TY - JOUR T1 - Medication-related harm in New Zealand general practice: a retrospective records review JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract DO - 10.3399/BJGP.2020.1126 SP - BJGP.2020.1126 AU - Sharon Leitch AU - Susan Dovey AU - Wayne Cunningham AU - Alesha Smith AU - Jiaxu Zeng AU - David Reith AU - Katharine Wallis AU - Kyle Eggleton AU - Andrew McMenamin AU - Martyn Williamson AU - Steven Lillis Y1 - 2021/03/30 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/early/2021/03/31/BJGP.2020.1126.abstract N2 - Background: The extent of medication-related harm in general practice is unknown. Aim: To identify and describe all medication-related harm in electronic general practice records. Design and Setting: Retrospective cohort records review study in 44 randomly selected New Zealand general practices for the three years 2011-2013. Methods: Eight general practitioners reviewed 9076 randomly selected patient records. Medication-related harms were identified when the causal agent was prescribed in general practice. Harms were coded by type, preventability, and severity. The number and proportion of patients who experienced medication-related harm was calculated. Weighted logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with harm. Results 976/9076 study patients (10.8%) experienced 1,762 medication-related harms over three years. After weighting, the incidence rate of all medication-related harms was 73.9 harms per 1000 patient-years, and the incidence of preventable or potentially preventable medication-related harms was 15.6 per 1000 patient-years. Most harms were minor (1390/1762, 78.9%), but one in five harms were moderate or severe (373/1762, 21.1%); three patients died. Eighteen study patients were hospitalised; after weighting this correlates to a hospitalisation rate of 1.1 per 1000 patient-years. Increasing age, number of consultations, and number of medications were associated with increased risk of medication-related harm. Cardiovascular medications, antineoplastic and immunomodulatory agents, and anticoagulants caused most harm by frequency and severity. Conclusion Medication-related harm in general practice is common. This study adds to the evidence about the risk posed by medication in the real world. Findings can be used to inform decision-making in general practice. ER -