[Syringe drug labels: a French national survey].
BACKGROUND
The French Society of Anaesthesiology (SFAR) recommends the use of pre printed self-stick syringe labels. However, French anaesthesia-syringe labelling customs is yet unknown.


METHODS
Therefore, a national phone survey was performed in order to investigate this issue.


RESULTS
Forty-five percent of the answering centers (324/722) used colour self-stick labels, with a larger proportion in public centers and a large regional variability. The kind of colour code differed from an area to another. Among centers using colour labels, the international recommended colour code was used in only 36% of them. The majority of health care providers declare to be favourable to the use of the colour self-stick labels and the standardization of the colour code as well. A relationship between the University hospital and the surrounded area has been observed for the use of the colour labels and the choice of the colour code.


CONCLUSIONS
Colour labels are used in France by nearly half of the centers, but international colour code is less spread.
Levrat
Q
Q
Département d'anesthésie-réanimation, CHU de Poitiers, 2, rue de la Milétrie, B.P. 577, 86021 Poitiers cedex, France. quentinlevrat@yahoo.fr
Troitzky
A
A
Levrat
V
V
Debaene
B
B
D000777:Anesthetics; D003116:Color; D004348:Drug Labeling; D005602:France; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013594:Syringes
D000777:Anesthetics