Abstract
BackgroundDrug-related problems are prevalent among older patients, and substantially increase the risk of morbidity, (re-)hospitalisation and mortality. To detect drug-related problems and optimize treatment primary caregivers should periodically review the medication of older patients. The aim was to develop a structured, comprehensive but practicable tool to facilitate and support the reviewing of medication of older patients with a chronic disease by pharmacists and general practitioners.MethodsA tool facilitating clinical medication review by community pharmacists was developed on the basis of treatment guidelines, literature data on drug-related problems. For the identification of drug-related problems from the patient’s perspective, a script for structured interviews was developed. The tool was optimized by means of a Delphi method with an expert panel and testing in a trial.ResultsThe medication review tool consists of a comprehensive checklist of 124 drug-related problems divided by 20 sections according to physiological systems and diseases, and includes a structured interview script for a patient interviews.ConclusionA structured, comprehensive and practical tool to assist pharmacists and general practitioners to perform clinical medication review including a list of potential drug-related problems in older patients with chronic disease, as well as a script for structured patient interviews, was developed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1566-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Drug-related problems are prevalent among older patients, and substantially increase the risk of morbidity,hospitalisation and mortality
The clinical medication review (CMR) tool comprises a comprehensive checklist of drug and patient related Drug-related problems (DRPs) and a script for structured patient interviews aimed at identifying DRPs related to patient experiences with drug treatment for chronic diseases
The CMR tool consists of a checklist of 124 common DRPs and a script for structured patient interviews used for the identification of patient-related DRPs
Summary
Drug-related problems are prevalent among older patients, and substantially increase the risk of morbidity, (re-)hospitalisation and mortality. To detect drug-related problems and optimize treatment primary caregivers should periodically review the medication of older patients. Drug-related problems (DRPs) are events or circumstances related to drug therapy that or potentially interfere with desired health outcomes [1,2,3]. DRPs are prevalent among older patients and substantially increase the risk of morbidity, (re-) hospitalization and mortality [4, 5]. DRPs include ineffectiveness of treatment, occurrence of adverse reactions and dissatisfaction of patients with their therapies [3]. Factors increasing the risk of DRPs are advanced age, comorbidity, polypharmacy and a lack of coordination between different caregivers after having initiated, altered or discontinued treatments [6]. Substantial effort has been made to prevent and detect potentially inappropriate
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