Publication

Abstract : pObjective: To identify various drug related problems in patients admitted to the general ward of a tertiary care hospital and to make suitable drug therapy recommendations. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the Annex General ward in B Block of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi for a period of 6 months. All the patients admitted to the general ward on particular day of each week and who satisfied the selection criteria were included in this study. Results: During the study period, a total of 598 drug related problems were identified of which 55.51% were due to prescribing of interacting drugs followed by drug choice problems (12.71%). Three hundred and thirty two drug interactions were observed in 224 patients. Thirty nine adverse drug reactions were observed in the study patients and cardiac drugs were the main class of drugs involved. Eighty seven drug interventions were done in 224 patients. It took an average of 25-35 minutes per intervention. Out of the total 87 interventions made, 41.4% (36) were at the prescriber level followed by 30% (27) at drug administration level. 23% of drug interventions were made at the patient level. 88.5% of the interventions were accepted and 11.5% were rejected. Conclusion: This study shows the positive impact of clinical pharmacists in identification and resolution of drug related problems in a tertiary care hospital. © 2015, International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. All Rights Reserved./p