Drug Therapy Problems and Pharmacist intervention in Lagos State General Hospitals
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2013
Authors
Onifade, M.
Oreagba, I.
Usman, S.
Onwuchuluba, E.E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Background: The role of pharmacists in health care delivery continues to evolve from dispensing functions to greater involvement in pharmaceutical care. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify drug therapy problems, types often encountered in Lagos State Hospitals, southwest Nigeria, document and analyze them as well as the interventions taken by pharmacists in preventing and resolving them. Methods: A one-year retrospective study was conducted using 651 randomly selected prescriptions that were associated with drug therapy problems. The types of drug therapy problems, interventions taken by pharmacists, and the outcomes of the interventions were identified, documented, and analyzed. This was followed by a one-month prospective study of 66 similar prescriptions from three general hospitals in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria. Results: The retrospective and prospective studies revealed, respectively, the identification of a lot (781, 96) of drug therapy problems which had both major (70.4%, 65.6%) and minor (29.2%, 33.3%) potentials to cause harms, the most common of which was wrong drug/drug combination. Most (98.2%, 87.6%) of the prescribers accepted the interventions and the outcomes included change in drug regimen (72.2%, 25.5%), clarification of prescription (7.7%, 2.3%), dosage adjustment (4.2%, 15.1%) and drug discontinuation (2.4% 12%). Conclusion: The most commonly encountered drug therapy problem in Lagos State General Hospitals was the wrong drug-drug combination. Pharmacists' therapeutic interventions in these hospitals prevented potential adverse drug reactions and resulted in better therapeutic outcomes. However, pharmacists, doctors, and nurses require further training in order to achieve optimum pharmaceutical care.
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Pharmacists , Interventions , Drug therapy problems , Hospitals , Research Subject Categories::PHARMACY
Citation
Onifade, M., Oreagba, I., Usman, S., & Onwuchuluba, E.E. (2013). Drug Therapy Problems and Pharmacist intervention in Lagos State General Hospitals . West African Journal of Pharmacy, 24(2), 83-93.