BackgroundA number of methods exist for the risk assessment of hospital inpatients to determine the likelihood of patients experiencing drug-related problems (DRPs), including manual review of a patient’s medication (medication reviews) and more complex electronic assessment using decision support alerts in electronic prescribing systems. A systematic review was conducted to determine the evidence base for potential risks associated with adult hospital inpatients that could not only lead to medication-related issues but might also be directly associated with pharmacist intervention.ObjectivesThe aims were to perform a systematic review of the literature in order to (1) identify all measurable risk factors associated with adult hospital inpatients that potentially lead to a pharmaceutical intervention; (2) critically evaluate the quality of the identified research; and (3) further subcategorise potential risk factors, so that pharmaceutical services may be targeted to patients “at risk” by identifying potential risk factors in a patient’s electronic hospital record.MethodsA systematic review, conducted in June 2013, searched ten medical literature databases for all papers identifying risks leading to pharmacist interventions or DRPs, adverse drug events (ADEs), adverse drug reactions, drug errors (where not included in the definition of an ADE), and medication-related problems. The search identified 7720 titles, from which 120 papers were sourced. A hand search of a further 11 journals was also performed. No date restrictions were imposed. All primary research and literature reviews were included. Summary articles were excluded with the exception of literature reviews. The inclusion of search outputs was validated by a third party pharmacy research graduate.ResultsFrom the 7720 titles, 38 publications met the inclusion criteria for the review. The ten most frequently reported risk factors associated with medication-related issues that may potentially lead to a hospital pharmaceutical intervention are as follows (ranked in descending order of frequency): prescription of certain drugs or classes of drugs, polypharmacy, elderly patients (defined as over 65 years), female gender, poor renal function, the presence of multiple comorbidities, length of patient stay, history of drug allergy or sensitivity, patient compliance issues, and poor liver function. The ten classes of drugs most frequently reported to be associated with medication-related issues leading to a hospital pharmaceutical intervention are as follows (ranked in descending order of frequency): intravenous antimicrobials, thrombolytics/anticoagulants, cardiovascular agents, central nervous system agents, corticosteroids, diuretics, chemotherapy, insulin/hypoglycaemics, opiates, and anti-epileptics.ConclusionReview of the literature identified 38 papers, from which the ten most frequently reported risk factors linked with factors that are potentially associated with hospital pharmaceutical interventions (all definitions included) were identified. No papers w...

This study aimed to analyse variations in intravenous fluid therapy and electrolyte management with variable rate intravenous insulin infusions (VRIIIs); and to quantify serum electrolyte changes pre‐ versus post‐VRIII and variations therein depending on supplemented fluid electrolyte compositions. A retrospective study was undertaken involving 174 VRIIIs prescribed over a 10‐week period at a tertiary teaching hospital. Each VRIII had their associated fluid prescription and serum electrolytes analysed. The results showed that 5% dextrose (46%) and 0.9% NaCl (34%) were the most commonly prescribed fluids; 64% of fluids did not have the recommended potassium supplementation. Administration of a VRIII resulted in a significant drop in serum potassium levels (p < 0.0001) for those who did not receive supplementation. There was no drop in serum potassium for those patients who did receive supplemental potassium. Eleven patients (6.4%) developed new‐onset hypokalaemia (K ≤3.5 mmol/L) after implementation of a VRIII. Our study supports the hypothesis that VRIIIs cause hypokalaemia and that this can be averted by supplemental potassium, thus preventing potentially avoidable hypokalaemic complications. A large variation exists in prescribing fluids with VRIIIs. Introduction of the national surgical and medical VRIII guidelines, together with improved availability to recommended fluids, and a quality improvement project, are our next steps to improve patient outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons.