Development of similarity measures of "drug names" and "appearance of PTP sheets" for quantitatively evaluating risk of confusion errors

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The similarity of "drug names" and "appearance of packaging for medicines" (e.g., PTP sheets of tablets or capsules) are important factors to induce confusion errors. To avoid these medication errors, suitable indicators for quantifying the degree of similarity are essential. In this study, improved measure (m2-vwhtfrag) was developed by modifying the existing measure (vwhtfrag). Furthermore, we developed novel appearance similarity measure incorporating aspects of the appearance of the PTP sheet (sheet color, print color, tablet color, sheet size, tablet size). Utilizing these measures for analysis of causes and planning of countermeasures, it is expected to lead to achievement of safe and secure medication.