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

“药品名称”和“药品包装外观”的相似性（例如，片剂或胶囊的PTP片）是导致混淆错误的重要因素。为了避免这些用药错误，量化相似程度的合适指标是必不可少的。在这项研究中，改进的措施（m2-vwhtfrag）是通过修改现有的措施（vwhtfrag）。此外，我们开发了新的外观相似性度量，结合PTP片材的外观方面（片材颜色、印刷颜色、片剂颜色、片材尺寸、片剂尺寸）。利用这些措施进行原因分析和对策计划，有望实现安全可靠的用药。

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.