Medical Abbreviation for Every Other Day
The standard medical abbreviation for "every other day" is qod (from Latin "quaque altera die"), though this abbreviation appears on error-prone lists and should be avoided in clinical documentation due to safety concerns.
Standard Abbreviation and Usage
- The abbreviation qod stands for "every other day" and is widely recognized in medical literature and clinical practice 1.
- This abbreviation derives from the Latin phrase "quaque altera die" 1.
- Multiple clinical guidelines across different specialties consistently use "qod" to indicate every-other-day dosing schedules 1.
Critical Safety Considerations
Despite its widespread use in medical literature, qod is considered a dangerous abbreviation that should NOT be used in medication orders or clinical documentation.
- The abbreviation "qod" can be easily misread as "qd" (every day) or "qid" (four times daily), leading to potentially serious medication errors 1.
- When handwritten, the "o" in "qod" can appear similar to other letters, creating confusion about dosing frequency 1.
- Best practice is to write out "every other day" in full to eliminate any possibility of misinterpretation 1.
Alternative Safe Documentation
- Instead of using "qod," healthcare providers should write the full phrase "every other day" in all medication orders and clinical notes 1.
- Some institutions use "every 48 hours" as an alternative that is less prone to misinterpretation 1.
- Electronic prescribing systems often default to spelling out the full phrase rather than using abbreviations 1.
Context in Clinical Practice
- The qod dosing schedule is commonly used for medications like fosfomycin (3g qod for urinary tract infections), valganciclovir maintenance therapy, and certain steroid tapers 1, 2.
- Research studies comparing daily (qd) versus every-other-day (qod) treatment schedules consistently use this abbreviation in their methodology sections 3, 4, 2.