family-medicine-2017-posters-accepted-abstracts

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Page 35
allied
academies
International Conference on
FAMILY MEDICINE AND FAMILY PHYSICIANS
October 16-17, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
Arch Gen Intern Med 2017 | Volume 1 Issue 3
Context: Abbreviations and acronyms (A&A) are commonly
used in both general and clinical settings to simplify and
facilitate communication as well as means of saving time,
space and effort. However, the use of abbreviations has been
linked to patient safety issues. District hospitals operate
with a heterogeneous community of healthcare workers
presumably with diverse set of A&A in use. The use of A&A in
these settings assumes that all have common understanding
regarding the A&A used in patient records. We therefore
aimed to assess the frequency, nature and healthcare
workers’ understanding of the meaning of the abbreviations
and acronyms used in medical records at a district hospital
in Botswana.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over
one month using inpatient medical charts at a district
hospital in Botswana to produce a self-administered
questionnaire assessing healthcare workers’ understanding
of abbreviations.
Results: A total of 57 charts were included in the study.
The total count of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols
was 1693 representing 86 different groups. The score of
correctly identified abbreviations was different among the
three cadres of healthcare workers (P=0.001) assessed.
Overall, the healthcare workers correctly identified 73%
of the abbreviations. In fifty of the collated abbreviations
(58.1%), participants suggested alternative meaning of the
abbreviation.
Conclusion: There is evidence that abbreviations are
frequently used in medical notes at a district hospital in
a resource limited setting. There is need to standardize
abbreviations and acronyms used in clinical care to minimize
the potential danger of compromised patient safety in
district hospitals and similar settings.
e:
Use of abbreviations and acronyms among healthcare workers in a resource limited setting
Billy M Tsima
University of Botswana, Botswana