A Study of Drug Related Problem in Urologic Patients: a Cohort Prospective Study

Abstract

Objective: Drug Related problems (DRPs) are the clinical domain of the pharmaceutical care practitioner. The purpose of identifying drug therapy problems is to help patients on achieving their goals of therapy and realizing the best possible outcomes from drug therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the number of DRPs and to classify DRPs that occurred in post-operative patients from urology surgery ward. Methods:A 3-month prospective study was conducted by considering 62 hospitalized post-operative patients from urology surgery ward at the Teaching Hospital in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. Clinical pharmacists were involved in medical rounds to identify DRPs.Results: From 37 patients, 81 DRPs were identified in this study. About 20 patients were considered to have more than one DRP. The most common identified DRPs were overdosage (38%), drug use without indication (20%), improper drug (11%), drug interaction (10%), untreated indication (9%), adverse drug reaction (7%), failure to receive drug (4%), and subtherapeutic drugs (1%). The clinical pharmacists were involved in doing dose adjustment, monitoring, evaluating drug discontinuation, doing drug substitution and additional therapy, counseling to patients, increasing dose, and referring to prescriber. Conclusion:The most identified DRPs were overdosage, drug use without indication, and improper drug. Clinical pharmacist's intervention was required to identify, prevent, resolve DRPs, and assist patient on achieving their goals of therapy and improving their quality of life.