9028 Background: Oral out-patient chemotherapy medications (OOCMs) compromise the majority of therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). OOCM are administered at the patient’s home, usually by parents with limited medical training. The frequency of errors in OOCM dose or schedule is unknown in children with ALL. Methods: We conducted a prospective case series. After providing informed consent, parents were interviewed during an ambulatory clinic visit to determine the dose and frequency of OOCMs administered since the last ambulatory clinic visit or hospitalization. Parents also completed a questionnaire regarding their understanding of the child’s OOCMs. Patient medical records were reviewed to determine the appropriate OOCM doses and schedules and then compared to the parent report. Pharmacy records were reviewed to determine how OOCMs were prescribed. OOCM errors included omission of any OOCM, use of an incorrect OOCM, > 10% deviation from the intended OOCM dose, or incorrect OOCM schedule. Results: 69 children (median age 6.4 years, range 1.3–17.9 years) participated, with a total of 171 OOCMs assessed. Fifteen (8.7%) OOCMs were given incorrectly, including 10 OOCMs administered incorrectly by parents, and five prescribed incorrectly. Eight errors involved under- or over-dosing within 10–20% of the intended OOCM dose. There were no errors in pharmacy dispensing. Errors were more common with glucocorticoids (9/60 OOCMs evaluated) than anti-metabolites (6/111 OOCMs evaluated). Conclusions: OOCM errors are unusual in children with ALL. Both administration and prescription errors were observed. Efforts to improve optimal use of OOCMs should include prevention of errors, potentially by identifying patients at higher risk for OOCM errors. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
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Hawkins et al. (2006) studied this question.