Nonadministration of medication doses for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in a cohort of hospitalized patients.

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Nonadministration of medication doses for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in a cohort of hospitalized patients.

Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2018 Mar 15;75(6):392-397

Authors: Popoola VO, Lau BD, Tan E, Shaffer DL, Kraus PS, Farrow NE, Hobson DB, Aboagye JK, Streiff MB, Haut ER

Abstract
PURPOSE: Results of a study to characterize patterns of nonadministration of medication doses for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention among hospitalized patients are presented.
METHODS: The electronic records of all patients admitted to 4 floors of a medical center during a 1-month period were examined to identify patients whose records indicated at least 1 nonadministered dose of medication for VTE prophylaxis. Proportions of nonadministered doses by medication type, intended route of administration, and VTE risk categorization were compared; reasons for nonadministration were evaluated.
RESULTS: Overall, 12.7% of all medication doses prescribed to patients in the study cohort (n = 75) during the study period (857 of 6,758 doses in total) were not administered. Nonadministration of 1 or more doses of VTE prophylaxis medication was nearly twice as likely for subcutaneous anticoagulants than for all other medication types (231 of 1,112 doses [20.8%] versus 626 of 5,646 doses [11.2%], p < 0.001). For all medications prescribed, the most common reason for nonadministration was patient refusal (559 of 857 doses [65.2%]); the refusal rate was higher for subcutaneous anticoagulants than for all other medication categories (82.7% versus 58.8%, p < 0.001). Doses of antiretrovirals, immunosuppressives, antihypertensives, psychiatric medications, analgesics, and antiepileptics were less commonly missed than doses of electrolytes, vitamins, and gastrointestinal medications.
CONCLUSION: Scheduled doses of subcutaneous anticoagulants for hospitalized patients were more likely to be missed than doses of all other medication types.

PMID: 29523536 [PubMed - in process]

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