FRIDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Among cancer patients, about 8 percent of outpatient visits are associated with a medication error, most often administration errors due to a lack of communication, according to a report published online Dec. 29 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Kathleen E. Walsh, M.D., from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., and colleagues reviewed the medical records of 1,262 adult cancer outpatient visits involving 10,995 medications and 117 pediatric cancer outpatient visits involving 913 medications to determine the rates and types of medical errors and their causes.

The researchers found that 7.1 percent of adult visits and 18.8 percent of pediatric visits were associated with a medication error. Of the total of 112 errors, 57 percent could cause harm and 15 errors led to injury. Chemotherapy accounted for 40 percent of errors with an overall error rate of 3.3 per 100 visits, while home medication errors accounted for 20 percent of errors with an overall error rate of 2.0 per 100 visits. About half (56 percent) were administration errors, which were often due to confusion over the order written at diagnosis and the adjusted dose on the day of administration. Improved communication could have prevented such errors, according to physician reviewers.

"Our results indicate that administration errors are common among outpatients with cancer; interventions to prevent such errors should focus on administration of medications in both the clinic and the home settings," Walsh and colleagues conclude.

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