Table 2.
Medication outcomes for general ward care patients and specialist Parkinson's unit care.
| Medication outcomes | General ward care | Specialist Parkinson's unit care | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doses (%) of Parkinsons' medication given (n = 4579) | Given | 1660 (77%) | 2080 (86%) | |
| Omitted | 437 (20%) | 329 (13%) | ||
| Not known | 72 (3%) | 1 (1%) | <0.001 | |
| Doses (%) of Parkinsons' medication given early/on timea/late (n = 3494) | Early | 147 (10%) | 217 (10%) | |
| On time | 710 (50%) | 1324 (64%) | ||
| Late | 563 (40%) | 533 (26%) | <0.001 | |
| Doses (%) of l-Dopa medication given early/on time/late (n = 2382) | Early | 101 (10%) | 144 (10%) | |
| On time | 478 (48%) | 917 (66%) | ||
| Late | 413 (42%) | 328 (24%) | <0.001 | |
| Doses of anti-dopaminergic medication given (% of all medication) (n = 9906) | 32 (1%) | 0 | <0.001 | |
| Main reasons for omission of PD medication (% of all scheduled PD medication) (n = 4579) | ||||
| Not prescribed | 91 (4.9%) | 52 (2.4%) | <0.001a | |
| Nil by mouth | 98 (5.2%) | 27 (1.7%) | ||
| Medication not available | 34 (1.9%) | 54 (2.5%) | ||
| Refused by patient | 40 (2.2%) | 28 (1.3%) | ||
| Patient unable to take | 30 (1.7%) | 49 (2.3%) | ||
| Patient off ward | 4 (0.2%) | 1 (0.05%) | ||
| Documented nursing reason | 67 (3.6%) | 73 (3.4%) | ||
| Other reasons | 29 (1.4%) | 17 (0.7%) | ||
| Doses of Parkinson's medication affected by prescription error (% of all scheduled PD medication) (n = 4579) | 171 (7.9%) | 64 (2.7%) | <0.001 | |
a
‘On time’ administration was defined as within 30 min of the scheduled time. Timeliness analysis was performed on the “given” medication where timed data was available.