International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(12) 2019, Pages: 1-6 Contents lists available at Science-Gate International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences Journal homepage: http://www.science-gate.com/IJAAS.html 1 Completeness of medication prescriptions: Prescription errors study in Hail region, Saudi Arabia (PeSHR) Ali F. Altebainawi 1, 2, 3 , Mohamad Aljofan 4 , Mubarak N. Alrashidi 1 , Thamir M. Alshammari 1, 2, 5, * 1 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia 2 Medication Safety Research Chair, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Pharmacovigilance, AJA Pharmaceutical Industries Co. Ltd, Hail, Saudi Arabia 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan 5 Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 15 June 2019 Received in revised form 13 September 2019 Accepted 14 September 2019 Prescription error is a common and preventable cause of adverse drug events and emerging as a public healthcare concern. It has been responsible for many morbidity, mortality, healthcare cost and litigations. Information regarding the pattern and the burden related to prescription error is limited in Saudi Arabia, particularly, in the Hail region. The study aims to identify the types and frequency of prescription errors in two major hospitals in the Hail Region, Saudi Arabia. A retrospective chart review of prescriptions issued over a two-month period (October–November 2014) was conducted using a validated form. Hand-written prescriptions from the out-patient clinic and Emergency Room were selected using simple random sampling and reviewed to identify any prescription error by two clinical pharmacists. A prescription error was defined and classified based on Neville’s classification. Final data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data from 1000 prescriptions was extracted and reviewed. At least one prescription error was identified in all the prescriptions (100%). Type A errors identified were missing information related to dose (42%), diagnosis (47%), file number (78%), patient’s body weight (100%) and age (63%). Of the 1000 prescriptions reviewed, 78% did not have a file number, 63% without the patient’s name. Type D error was identified to be poor handwriting (28%), missing prescription date (34%), patient’s sex (22%) and name (0.8%), prescribing date (34%), physician signature (27%) and stamp (16%). The frequency of prescription error at tertiary healthcare hospitals in the Hail Region, Saudi Arabia is high and preventable. Interventions to ensure adherence to good prescription practice, effective communication between healthcare professionals and computerized physician order entry are therefore needed to prevent the burden associated with the prescription error. Keywords: Prescription errors Medication errors Patient safety Medication safety © 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction *Prescription error is defined as a prescribing decision or prescription writing process that results in an unintentional, significant reduction in the probability that treatment will be timely and effective or in an increase in the risk of harm when compared with generally accepted practice. Prescription errors include any mistake in the * Corresponding Author. Email Address: thamer.alshammary@gmail.com (T. M. Alshammari) https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2019.12.001 Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5630-2468 2313-626X/© 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) patient identity, identity of the prescribed drug, formulation, dose, route, timing, frequency or duration of administration (Velo and Minuz, 2009). The prevalence of prescription error is common and becoming a significant healthcare-related problem, especially in developing countries (Alsulami et al., 2013; Chiatti et al., 2012). Prescription errors that result in adverse effects are estimated to account for 70% of all medication errors (Velo and Minuz, 2009). A systematic review of studies on medication errors in Middle East countries has shown that up to 90.5% of errors were related to prescriptions (Alsulami et al., 2013). In the United Kingdom where the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is widely practiced, a prescription error of 9–15% of medication orders for hospital inpatients was reported. In addition, there is a growing concern