Review of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics – International Edition 39(3): 129-136, doi: 10.61873/jzpr9600
Prescription errors in a psychiatric hospital: preliminary results of an observational study
Kyriakoula Manaridou‡, Jost Eberlein‡, Olympia Konstantakopoulou§, Alexandra Skitsou§, Petros Galanis|, Georgios Charalambous§, Charalambos Dokos¶‡ St. Josef Psychiatric Hospital AMEOS, Oberhausen, Germany§ Frederick University, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Nicosia, Cyprus| National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Nursing, Athens, Greece¶ Klinikum Luedenscheid, Department of Acute and Emergency Medicine, Luedenscheid, Germany
Corresponding author: Kyriakoula Manaridou ( kiriakiman@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Fragkiski Anthouli-Anagnostopoulou © Kyriakoula Manaridou, Jost Eberlein, Olympia Konstantakopoulou, Alexandra Skitsou, Petros Galanis, Georgios Charalambous, Charalambos Dokos. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Manaridou K, Eberlein J, Konstantakopoulou O, Skitsou A, Galanis P, Charalambous G, Dokos C (2025) Prescription errors in a psychiatric hospital: preliminary results of an observational study. Review of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics – International Edition 39(3): 129-136. https://doi.org/10.61873/jzpr9600 |  |
Abstract
Background: Prescription errors (PE) in psychiatric hospitals can compromise treatment and patient safety. While well studied in general healthcare, evidence from psychiatric settings, particularly in Germany, remains scarce. Aim: This preliminary study investigates the prevalence, types, and severity of PE in a German psychiatric hospital over 12 months. Methodology: A prospective observational study was conducted at St. Josef AMEOS Psychiatric Hospital, Oberhausen, Germany (2023–2024). All 6,020 paper-based therapeutic plans were screened. From these, 150 cases of PE were identified for interim analysis. Errors were categorized using adapted EQUIP methodology and classified by severity (minor, major, serious, potentially fatal) and by drug group according to the British National Formulary (BNF). Results: Of the 150 cases, 93.3% were minor, 5.0% were major, and 1.7% were serious; no potentially fatal errors were observed. Writing errors were most common (38%). Errors most frequently involved musculoskeletal medications (BNF 10; 36.7%), followed by gastrointestinal (BNF 1; 18.7%) and CNS/psychotropics (BNF 4; 14.7%). Most errors occurred in inpatient settings and were primarily attributed to residents and consultants. Significant associations were found between error type and drug class, and between error type and severity (p<0.05). Conclusion: These interim results suggest that PE in psychiatric hospitals are mostly minor, with somatic medications more often affected than psychotropics. Given the small interim sample (150 of 6,020 plans), findings should be interpreted cautiously and considered hypothesis-generating. Larger, multi-center studies and evaluation of electronic prescribing systems are needed to confirm these patterns and guide interventions.
Keywords
prescription errors, psychiatry, medication safety, Germany, observational study