Table 3.

Mean error rate (%) by prescribing error type

Prescribing error type	Simple				Complex
	Scenario A		Scenario B		Scenario C		Scenario D
	Errors (error rate, %)	N	Errors (error rate, %)	N	Errors (error rate, %)	N	Errors (error rate, %)	N
Wrong patient*	0	32	0	32
Missed allergy*	5 (16)	32	5 (16)	32
Medication name	0	192	1 (0.5)	192	0	128	0	128
Dose	0	192	1 (0.6)	160	3 (2.3)	128	1 (0.8)	128
Route	0	192	0	160	1 (0.8)	128	0	128
Formulation	0	192	0	192	0	128	0	128
Administration time	9 (2.8)	320	16 (3.8)	416	1 (1)	96	0	128
Frequency	6 (1.0)	192	0	192	5 (3.9)	128	0	128
Medical omission	0	192	0	192	4 (3.1)	128	1 (0.8)	128
Date error	0	192	0	192	6 (4.7)	128	6 (4.7)	128
Qualifier omission‡			4 (12)	32
Cessation error†					5 (8)	64	2 (3)	64
PRN max dose omission†					4 (6)	64
Total	16	1728	27	1792	29	1120	10	1088
Mean error rate, % (SD)	0.93 (1.49)		1.51 (1.64)		2.59 (2.55)		0.92 (1.57)

^*Error type not applicable to the complex tasks.

^†Error type not applicable to the simple tasks and scenario D.

^‡Error type not applicable to scenario A and the complex tasks.

N=number of opportunities for error. For example, six medications are prescribed in scenario A, which is completed by all 32 participants; therefore, creating 192 opportunities for error in selecting the medication name.