Observational evidence of the prevalence and association of polypharmacy and drug administration errors in hospitalized adult patients.
Polypharmacy is an established problem among older adult patients and can lead to medication errors and adverse events. This observational study concluded that polypharmacy was common among adult patients (ages 21 and older) at one tertiary hospital, with almost half of inpatients prescribed more than 9 drugs during their hospitalization. Findings indicate that medication administration errors increase as the number of prescribed drugs increased.