Background and objective: The objective of this study was to know of the incidence rate of reconciliation errors in elderly poly-medicated patients.
Patients and method: A prospective randomized multicenter study in a cohort of patients at admission or at discharge. Any unjustified discrepancy in medication between chronic treatment and the treatment prescribed in the hospital was considered as a Reconciliation Error.
Results: From January 2006 to April 2008 603 patients were analyzed: 318 (52.7%) showed at least one Reconciliation Error. The patients had a total of 3.991 medications registered, 2.340 (59%) showed no discrepancies, 970 (24%) HAD justified discrepancies and 644 (16%) not justified; in 37 (1%) it was not possible to determine whether this was an error or not. Of the 644 unjustified discrepancies, 555 were accepted by the doctor as Reconciliation Errors. Reconciliation Error rate of 13.9%.
Conclusion: According to this study, 52.7% of elderly poly-medicated patients have reconciliation errors during hospitalization. Medication reconciliation should be a strategic objective to increase the safety of patients.