Doskontroll

Doskontroll is a term used in several Scandinavian languages to denote a safety process for managing medication dosages. Broadly defined, it encompasses the calculation, verification, administration, and monitoring of drug doses to ensure they are appropriate for an individual patient. The goal is to prevent dosing errors that can lead to underdosing, overdosing, or adverse drug events.

Contexts for doskontroll include hospital and pharmacy settings, outpatient clinics, veterinary medicine, and research. The practice relies on established guidelines, weight- and age-based dosing charts, renal and hepatic function considerations, and drug-specific safety information to ensure dosing accuracy.

Key process components include prescriber dose selection or calculation, an independent verification step by a clinician such as a pharmacist, and administration by nursing staff with additional checks. Dosing adjustments are made based on monitoring results like vitals, laboratory values, and therapeutic response. Technology often supports doskontroll through electronic prescribing, barcode scanning, and smart infusion pumps, all aimed at reducing human error and ensuring traceability.

Challenges arise from factors such as patient variability, especially in pediatric and neonatal populations, polypharmacy, off-label use, communication gaps, and workflow constraints. Data quality and interoperability of health information systems are critical for reliable doskontroll.

Overall, doskontroll is tied to patient safety and medication safety initiatives, with demonstrated potential to reduce medication errors and improve treatment outcomes by ensuring dosing accuracy and appropriate monitoring.