Drug packaging

About: Drug packaging is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 45 publications have been published within this topic receiving 672 citations. The topic is also known as: drug packaging.

Prospective study of the incidence, nature and causes of dispensing errors in community pharmacies

Abstract: Background Each year over 600 million prescription items are dispensed in community pharmacies in England and Wales. Despite this, there is little published evidence relating to dispensing errors and near misses occurring in this setting. This study sought to determine their incidence, nature and causes. Methods Prospective study over a 4-week period in 35 community pharmacies (9 independent pharmacies and 26 chain pharmacies) in the UK. Pharmacists recorded details of all incidents that occurred during the dispensing process, including information about: the stage at which the error was detected; who found the error; who made the error; type of error; reported cause of error and circumstances associated with the error. Results 125 395 prescribed items were dispensed during the study period and 330 incidents were recorded relating to 310 prescriptions. 280 (84.8%) incidents were classified as a near miss (rate per 10 000 items dispensed =22.33, 95%CI 19.79–25.10), while the remaining 50 (15.2%) were classified as dispensing errors (rate per 10 000 items dispensed =3.99, 95%CI 2.96–5.26). Selection errors were the most common types of incidents (199, 60.3%), followed by labeling (109, 33.0%) and bagging errors (22, 6.6%). Most of the incidents were caused either by misreading the prescription (90, 24.5%), similar drug names (62, 16.8%), selecting the previous drug or dose from the patient's medication record on the pharmacy computer (42, 11.4%) or similar packaging (28, 7.6%). Conclusions This study has demonstrated that a wide range of medication errors occur in community pharmacies. On average, for every 10 000 items dispensed, there are around 22 near misses and four dispensing errors. Given the current plans for reporting adverse events in the NHS, greater insight into the likely incidence and nature of dispensing errors will be helpful in designing effective risk management strategies in primary care. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of medication packaging on adherence and treatment outcomes in older ambulatory patients

Abstract: Objective To evaluate medication adherence and treatment outcomes in elderly outpatients using daily-dose blister packaging (Pill Calendar) compared with medications packaged in bottles of loose tablets. Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting Ambulatory care clinics at Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus; University of Arizona Health Science Center, Tucson; and Riverside Methodist Hospital Family Medicine Clinic, Columbus, Ohio, from July 1, 2002, to December 31, 2004. Patients 85 individuals 65 years of age or older being treated with lisinopril for hypertension. Intervention Patients were randomly assigned to receive lisinopril in either daily-dose blister packaging (Pill Calendar) or traditional bottles of loose tablets. Main outcome measures Adherence was assessed by prescription refill regularity and medication possession ratio (MPR). Treatment outcome and use of medical services were assessed by medical record review of blood pressure and morbidity associated with poorly controlled hypertension. Results Patients receiving lisinopril in the daily-dose blister packaging (Pill Calendar) refilled their prescriptions on time more often ( P = 0.01), had higher MPRs ( P = 0.04), and had lower diastolic blood pressure ( P = 0.01) than patients who had their medications packaged in traditional bottles of loose tablets. Conclusion Providing medications in a package that identifies the day each dose is intended to be taken and provides information on proper self-administration can improve treatment regimen adherence and treatment outcomes in elderly patients.

Medication compliance in elderly outpatients using twice-daily dosing and unit-of-use packaging.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To determine the effect of unit-of-use drug packaging of medications on compliance among elderly outpatients treated with complex medication regimens.DESIGN:Nonblind, randomized, clinical trial.SETTING:Geriatric outreach health centers in urban public housing units for independent-living elderly people.PATIENTS:Thirty-one patients (aged ≥60 y), each taking three or more prescribed medications. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three study groups: Group 1 (n=12), no change in dosing or packaging; group 2 (n=10), conventional packaging with twice-daily dosing; group 3 (n=9), unit-of-use packaging with twice-daily dosing.INTERVENTION:A unit-of-use package consisting of a two-ounce plastic cup with a snap-on lid containing all medications to be taken at the time of dosing.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Medication compliance was assessed monthly for six months using tablet counts.RESULTS:Medication compliance was significantly better in group 3 (92.6 percent) using unit-of-use packaging compared with ...

Drug packaging machine

Abstract: A drug packaging machine which can provide patients with information of any drug which cannot be packaged in a drug bag if prescribed drugs include such a drug. If prescribed drugs include a drug which cannot be packaged in a drug bag, an empty bag is formed at a position corresponding to the order in which this particular drug is to be taken, and the data for taking this particular drug is printed on the empty bag. A patient can thus take all of his or her necessary drugs simply by following the order in which the drug bags are series-connected.