An analysis of medication incident reports in the elderly population in Beaumont Hospital

Background Medication errors are the single most preventable cause of patient harm that occurs in a medical facility. From prescription to administration, there is a vast amount of opportunity for errors to occur. This emphasizes the need to evaluate the extent of medication error in the elderly as medication errors are estimated to be the fifth most common cause of death among hospitalised elderly population. This study analysed medication incidents reported in the Elderly population in Beaumont hospital and also the trends in reporting, drug classes reported with high frequency, as well as the severity/significance of the incidents reported.