Abstract
BackgroundClinical pharmacists play a role in limiting the disadvantages of pharmacotherapy for patients by detecting and resolving drug-related problems (DRPs) through medication reviews. Although their contributions to patient care have been analyzed and understood in various countries, the role of Japanese clinical pharmacists in this context remains to be clearly elucidated. Thus, in this study, we aimed to elucidate the detection of DRPs by clinical pharmacists and determine the potential impact of pharmacist interventions in Japan.MethodsThis study was conducted in a 273-bed hospital and targeted hospitalized patients over a period of 6 months. DRPs detected by clinical pharmacists during the study period were investigated and classified into 10 types. Furthermore, medications were categorized according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification. A review committee consisting of two pharmacists independently reviewed the pharmacist interventions on a six-point scale (extremely significant, very significant, significant, somewhat significant, no significance, adverse significance) according to the potential impact on patient care.ResultsDuring the study period, 1711 patients (mean age: 71.2 years, 54.1% male) were included, and 2149 DRPs were detected (1.26 DRPs/patient). Pharmacists intervened in all the DRPs detected. The most common DRP was supratherapeutic dosage (19.3%), followed by untreated indication (18.1%). The most common medication classification causing DRPs was “Antiinfectives for Systemic Use” (25.1%), followed by “Alimentary Tract and Metabolism” (19.9%). Most of the pharmacist interventions (99.6%) were rated “somewhat significant” or more significant, of which 1.1% were rated “extremely significant,” and none were rated as “adverse significance.”ConclusionsOur results show that in Japan, as in other countries, clinical pharmacists detect and resolve DRPs in hospitalized patients through medication review. Our findings also show that clinical pharmacists have a positive impact on patient care and suggest the need for their involvement.
Highlights
Clinical pharmacists play a role in limiting the disadvantages of pharmacotherapy for patients by detecting and resolving drug-related problems (DRPs) through medication reviews
In 2009, the hospital began to assign clinical pharmacists specialized in patient care to some wards as dedicated staff, and in 2010, they were assigned to all wards
The results showed that clinical pharmacists detected an average of > 1 DRP per patient through pharmacist intervention, suggesting the need for clinical pharmacists
Summary
Clinical pharmacists play a role in limiting the disadvantages of pharmacotherapy for patients by detecting and resolving drug-related problems (DRPs) through medication reviews. Over the past few decades, the number of drugs available on the market has increased markedly [2] While this has expanded the scope of drug treatments it has caused significant challenges in managing drug therapy. This may be a possible cause of DRPs. Medication review is a means of detecting and resolving DRPs and it is defined as “a structured evaluation of a patient’s medicines with the aim of optimizing medicines use and improving health outcomes. Clinical pharmacists play a role in limiting the disadvantages of pharmacotherapy for patients
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