• José J Mira, Lidia Ortiz, Susana Lorenzo, Catalina Royuela, Julián Vitaller, and Virtudes Pérez-Jover.
• Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain.
• Med Princ Pract. 2014 Jan 1; 23 (3): 246-52.

ObjectiveTo analyse information about the errors made by diabetic and renal patients based on information provided by professionals (general practitioners, specialists, and nurses) and the patients themselves.Subjects And MethodsA descriptive study was carried out by interviewing 199 patients and 60 professionals from the Spanish provinces of Alicante and Madrid. The interview explored the frequencies and types of oversights, confusions, and misinterpretations and the factors that contributed to them.ResultsAmong the 199 patients, 59 (29.5%) and 42 (70%) of the 60 professionals considered that patients frequently made errors that affected the success of their treatment. There were no differences in the frequency of the reported errors based on gender (p = 0.7), educational level (p = 0.9), or marital status (p = 0.5). The most commonly reported errors were taking the wrong medication (n = 70; 35%) and mixing up medicines (n = 15; 7.5%). Diabetics who had not been adequately informed, compared to renal patients, reported a higher number of errors (p = 0.02).ConclusionsPatient errors were frequent because of communication failures and confusions. Diabetic patients had a higher chance of committing an error than renal patients. Patient education must include clear and personalized instructions for improving self-care and reducing risks when using medicines.© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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