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Introduction: Drug-related problems (DRPs) are treatment-related occurrences that affect therapeutic efficacy. In a previous study, approximately 279 out of 330 (84.5%) patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) had experienced at least one DRP, including non-optimal drug effects (n = 240, 52.7%) and indications without medication (n = 137, 30.1%). Patients who were hospitalised for 5-10 days had the highest number of DRPs. Therefore, this study investigates the association between DRPs and length of stay (LoS) in patients with T2DM. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2020 to May 2023 at Rumah Sakit Akademik, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Clinical pharmacists reviewed electronic health data to examine DRPs. The Fisher's exact test evaluated the association between DRPs and LoS. Results: A total of 60.7% (n = 17) of the participants were females, with the majority falling into the age group ≥ 65 years old (n = 11, 29.7%). A significant portion experienced LoS > 7 days (n = 17, 60.7%). Antidiabetic monotherapy was predominant, and the categories of DRPs included adverse drug reaction (n = 15, 40.5%), dosage too high (n = 6, 16.2%), wrong drug (n = 6, 16.2%), non-adherence (n = 4, 10.8%), need for additional therapy (n = 4, 10.8%) and dosage too low (n = 2, 5.4%). A significant association was observed between non-adherence and LoS (P = 0.016). The possibility of experiencing LoS of 1-7 days increased by 3.43 times with improved non-adherence (OR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.83, 6.39). In this context, non-adherence refers to DRPs associated with the non-compliance of patients with the prescribed treatment plan. Conclusion: This study concludes that non-adherence was significantly associated with hospital LoS.

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Introduction: Depressive spectrum disorders are common and can hinder breastfeeding success. While medications typically pose minimal risk, the concerns persist. This is the first study that investigates the prevalence and characteristics of drug-related problems among breastfeeding mothers with depressive spectrum disorders. We analyzed those problems to understand their nature, severity, and contributing factors. Additionally, we evaluated the outcomes of pharmacist-led interventions in reducing them. Understanding drug-related problems is crucial for informing evidence-based practices to optimize both maternal mental health and breastfeeding success. Materials and methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at a specialized pharmacy office in Poznan, Poland, which focuses on lactation support and medication consultations. 47 breastfeeding patients were enrolled. Pharmaceutical consultations were conducted according to Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners Pharmacists' Patient Care Process standards. Novel MILC Questionnaire was used for efficient and optimal pharmaceutical interview. Drug-related problems were assessed basing on PCNE Classification System version 9.1. For adverse events in lactation, MedDRA v27 nomenclature was used; for causality, Naranjo Scale and LCAT were utilized. CTCAE was used for grading. Results: Among the 47 patients, pharmacist identified 49 medication-related problems, with inadequate treatment effect due to underdosing or not taking the medication at all being the most common (57.1%). Pharmacist interventions focused on medication safety information and counseling. Overall, 78.7% of patients accepted these interventions, resulting in problem resolution for 71.4%. Twelve mothers (25.5%) reported adverse events in their infants, but after causality evaluation, only four (8.5%) might have been linked to maternal medication. None required medical intervention beyond one hospitalization for a serious adverse event possibly connected to maternal medication. Conclusion: The study identified high rates of drug-related problems among breastfeeding mothers with depression, primarily due to non-adherence. Pharmacist interventions significantly improved DRP outcomes. Adverse events were reported, but most were mild and did not require intervention. Our findings suggest that lactating mothers with depressive spectrum disorders may benefit from pharmacist-led support to optimize treatment adherence and address medication safety concern.

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BACKGROUND: It is a common preconception that young individuals sustaining hip fractures have alcohol and/or drug use disorder. It is important to evaluate the actual use to avoid complications and plan the rehabilitation. AIM: The primary objective was to assess alcohol and drug consumption in hip fracture patients <60 years using the validated Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) scores. We secondarily investigated the agreement between the instruments and the physicians' clinical evaluation of usage. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a sub-study of 91 women and 127 men from a multicenter cohort study of patients with an acute hip fracture treated at four hospitals in Denmark and Sweden. AUDIT and DUDIT forms were completed by the patients. In addition, the researchers made an evaluation of the patients' alcohol/drug use based on direct patient contact and information on previous alcohol/drug use from medical charts. AUDIT ranges 0-40 with 6 (women) and 8 (men) as the cut-off for hazardous use. DUDIT ranges 0-44 with cut-offs of 2 and 6 indicating drug-related problems. RESULTS: According to the AUDIT, 29 % of the patients had a hazardous alcohol use (25 % women, 31 % men), whilst the clinical evaluation identified 26 % (24 % women, 28 % men). However, there was a low agreement between "the clinical eye" and AUDIT, as the clinical evaluation only correctly identified 35 of 56 individuals with AUDIT-scores indicating hazardous alcohol use. DUDIT equaled drug related problems in 8 % (5 % women, 10 % men), the clinical evaluation depicted 8 % with drug related problems (4 % women, 10 % men). The agreement was low between "the clinical eye" and DUDIT; only 7 of 15 with DUDIT-scores indicating drug related problems were correctly identified. CONCLUSION: Hazardous alcohol consumption is more common in non-elderly hip fracture patients than in the general population. Considering both self-reported alcohol use and clinical evaluation, women have almost as high rate as men. DUDIT indicated drug related problems to be slightly more common than in the population. Still, a majority did not exhibit troublesome use of neither alcohol nor drugs. The two screening methods do not identify the same individuals, and further investigation in clinical practice is needed.

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BACKGROUND: Polypharmacy and the resulting problems lead to considerable consequences for those affected. There are also considerable problems with the medication management. OBJECTIVE: Which interventions and programs for optimizing the supply of medication are available for nursing homes and which implementation problems can be expected? MATERIAL AND METHOD: A literature search was carried out for interventional studies in nursing homes in Germany, with a focus on improving medication safety. RESULTS: A total of six programs were identified for which evaluation results are available. Despite a mostly multimodal approach with several pillars of intervention (e.g., medication reviews, further education and training, development of aids), the results are largely disappointing. The effects on the number of prescriptions in general, specific medication groups or outcome parameters such as hospital admissions could only be shown in one study, whereby, selection bias could also be at least partly responsible for this. Interdisciplinary collaboration and the implementation of medication recommendations formulated in reviews by the responsible physicians are the main problem areas. At the same time, too little attention is paid to the central role of nurses in the entire process and they are not actively promoted enough. This could be one of the reasons for the difficulties in implementation in practice. CONCLUSION: There are nearly no significant changes as a result of the interventions implemented in the studies reviewed. In particular, interprofessional cooperation, especially the skills of nurses and the reluctance on the part of physicians, should probably be given more attention.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to identify drug-related problems (DRPs) during community pharmacist medication reviews. DESIGN: Pilot 3-phase (group), open-label study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two community pharmacies in Sarnia, Ontario, with pharmacists providing medication reviews to patients. STUDY PROCEDURES: Five pharmacists participated in three phases (groups). During Phase 1, pharmacists conducted medication reviews in 25 adult patients using the usual approaches. In Phase 2, pharmacists were trained to use a CDSS to identify DRPs, and then conducted medication reviews using the tool in a different group of 25 adult patients. In Phase 3, pharmacists conducted medication reviews without the aid of the CDSS in 25 additional adult patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was recommendation to the primary care physician to alter pharmacotherapy based on medication review, assessed using mean number and frequency (yes/no) of recommendations by patient. Secondary outcomes included number of potential DRPs, actual DRPs, medication review duration time, pharmacist's perceptions of the CDSS and patient satisfaction with medication review. RESULTS: The mean number of recommendations to primary care physicians to alter pharmacotherapy per patient in Phases 1, 2 and 3 did not differ: 1.0 (SD = I.2) versus 1.5 (1.0) versus 1.5 (1.0), respectively; p = 0.223. The percentage of patients with a pharmacy recommendation sent to physicians across the phases, however, differed: 52% versus 80% versus 88%, respectively; p = 0.010, with more in Phases 2 and 3 compared to 1. There were more potential DRPs in group 2 compared to other groups. There were no differences in actual DRPs and medication review time. Pharmacists had positive attitudes about the CDSS. Patients were generally satisfied with their medication review. CONCLUSIONS: This small pilot study provides some preliminary evidence for performance and feasibility of a CDSS to identify DRPs that pharmacists will act on. Future research is recommended to validate these findings in a larger sample.

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INTRODUCTION: Patients who make 5 or more visits per year to hospital emergency departments (EDs) are usually considered ED frequent users (FUs). This study aims to better characterize the influence of alcohol and other drug use-related disorders in this phenomenon in a European Mediterranean country with public, universal, tax-financed healthcare system. METHODS: Matched case-control study. Cases were adults between 18 and 65 years old who consulted 5 or more times the ED of a tertiary hospital in Spain between December 2018 and November 2019. Each case was assigned a control of the same age and gender, who appeared to the ED on the same day, but who made 4 visits or less to the service during the study period. The electronic record of the first ED visit during this period was used to extract the variables of interest: emergency care received, clinical and social characteristics. Predictors of frequent ED use were identified with conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: 609 case-control pairs (total n = 1,218) were selected. History of alcohol-related conditions (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.82 [95% CI: 1.26-2.64] p = 0.001) and also other drug use-related disorders (AOR = 1.50 [95% CI: 1.11-2.03] p = 0.009) significantly increased the probability of frequent use of emergency services. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Alcohol-related conditions and other drug use-related disorders must be evaluated in all ED FUs. Specific action protocols to concurrently address repeated attendance and addictions in the emergency room could be a good tool to reduce frequent ED use.

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Drug-related problems (DRPs) are critical medical issues during transition from hospital to home with high prevalence. The application of a variety of interventional strategies as part of the transitional care has been studied for preventing DRPs. However, it remains challenging for minimizing DRPs in patients, especially in older adults and those with high risk of medication discrepancies after hospital discharge. In this narrative review, we demonstrated that age, specific medications and polypharmacy, as well as some patient-related and system-related factors all contribute to a higher prevalence of transitional DPRs, most of which could be largely prevented by enhancing nurse-led multidisciplinary medication reconciliation. Nurses' contributions during transitional period for preventing DRPs include information collection and evaluation, communication and education, enhancement of medication adherence, as well as coordination among healthcare professionals. We concluded that nurse-led strategies for medication management can be implemented to prevent or solve DRPs during the high-risk transitional period, and subsequently improve patients' satisfaction and health-related outcomes, prevent the unnecessary loss and waste of medical expenditure and resources, and increase the efficiency of the multidisciplinary teamwork during transitional care.

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INTRODUCTION: Management of bone and joint infections (BJI) requires prolonged and high-dose antibiotic therapy to achieve target concentrations in bone tissue. However, these therapies often lead to adverse effects in patients who are frequently fragile, with multiple comorbidities and associated medications. The decision to treat these complex cases is made during a multidisciplinary team meeting at the reference centre for complex osteoarticular infections (CRIOAC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Elaborated by a pharmacist during CRIOAC meetings, a single-centre before-and-after comparative study of drug-related issues observed during pharmaceutical interventions (PIs), was conducted. For each patient included, a retrospective case was added. PIs were independently evaluated by a committee of infectiologists and pharmacists to assess their criticality. RESULTS: Sixty patients were included in the intervention group, with 59 controls. The population was homogeneous, with a median age of 65 years. Most BJI cases were complex (65.5 %), primarily involving prosthetic joint infections. Staphylococcus species were the predominant pathogens. Antibiotic therapy adapted to antibiograms was orally relayed for 74 % of patients, with 5.9 % requiring re-hospitalization due to adverse effects. Sixty-two PIs were performed, representing an average of 1.8 PIs per meeting or 34.4 % of patients. Dosage adjustment accounted for 42 % of PIs, drug interactions for 46 %, and treatment availability in community pharmacies for 8 %. Regarding criticality, three PIs were classified as vital, 22 as major, 22 as moderate, and 15 as minor in both groups, with the same distribution between the intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that by collaborating with surgeons and infectiologists, pharmacists participating in CRIOAC meetings can strongly help to prevent drug-related problems in patients with BJIs.

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Background: Drug-related problems (DRPs) are widespread in hospitalized neonates, but studies on the prevalence of DRPs in this population are limited. The presence of clinical pharmacists on multidisciplinary teams helps prevent and reduce DRPs. Aim: This investigation aimed to identify and classify the incidence of DRPs in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), to determine the determining factors associated with DRPs and to document clinical pharmacists' interventions, outcomes, acceptance rates and clinical significance. Method: A prospective descriptive hospital study was conducted from August to November 2023 at the NICU of Children's University Hospital, Assiut University, Egypt. DRPs were classified using the Pharmaceutical Care Network of Europe (PCNE) classification V9.1. Results: Three hundred sixteen neonates were included in the study, with a mean gestational age of 34 ± 4 weeks and a mean birth weight of 2.03 ± 0.85 kg. A total of 1723 DRPs occurred among 283 neonates (89.6%), an average of 5.5 ± 5.1 DRPs per patient. The main types were treatment effectiveness (P1) (799, 46.4%), followed by others (P3) (469, 27.2%), and treatment safety (P2) (455, 26.4%). The leading causes were dose selection (C3) (1264, 61.9%) and "other domain" (C9) (543, 26.6%). Of the 2149 interventions introduced by pharmacists, 98.8% were accepted and 93% were accepted, and fully implemented. As a result, 92% of the DRPs were resolved. Both length of hospital stay and number of medications were significantly associated with DRPs. Conclusion: DRPs are common in the NICU; this study demonstrated the crucial role of clinical pharmacists in identifying and resolving DRPs.

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Objective: Electrolyte disorder (ED) is frequently encountered critically ill patients during admission or admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). This study aimed to determine the frequency of ED encountered in ICU patients to evaluate the relationship of ED with drugs. Methods: This prospective, multicenter study was conducted in the medical and anesthesiology ICUs of two training and research hospitals and included patients with at least one ED during admission or hospitalization in the ICUs. The relationship between ED and the drug was evaluated by calculating the logistic probabilistic method scale (LPMS) and the expert panel's evaluation. The correlation between EDs and LPMS was determined using Kendal tau. A binary logistic regression model was preferred in the analysis of factors related to ED. Statistical significance was set as p < 0.05. Results: A total of 117 patients were included in the study. A total of 165 EDs were detected, including at least one in 88 (75.2%) patients. According to the expert panel, 61 (21.7%) of EDs were drug-related, whereas according to the LPMS, 111 (39.6%) (p < 0.001). Mortality (50% vs. 13.7%) and mechanical ventilation rates (52.2% vs. 17.2%) were significantly higher in patients with ED (p < 0.001). Patients with ED had 8.352 times higher odds of exhibiting mortality (OR: 8.352, %95 CI: 1.598-43.648, p: 0.012) and need mechanical ventilation with higher odds of 3.229 (OR: 3.229 95% CI: 0.815-12.787 p: 0.045). Patient who required enteral or parenteral feeding were associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting ED (respectively OR: 30.057, %95 CI: 2.265-398.892, p: 0.01, OR: 5.537, %95 CI: 1.406-21.800, p: 0.014). Conclusion: EDs are very common in the ICU. Dysnatremia was detected more commonly in other EDs. It has also been found that patients with ED are more often under mechanical ventilation, have more prolonged hospitalizations, and have higher mortality rates than patients without ED. The suitability of LPMS for assessing ED-drug relationships in the ICU context is questioned.

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INTRODUCTION: Glucocorticoids (GCs) play a crucial role in the treatment of many rheumatic diseases regarding their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Inappropriate use of GCs can exacerbate GC-related problems besides complex treatment regimens and miscellaneous well-established adverse events. Although several guidelines exist for managing these problems, there is lack of real-life studies evaluating the problems at the patient level. This study aims to identify GC-related problems among patients with rheumatic diseases and address how they have been solved. METHODS: This prospective follow-up study was conducted between January 2021 and June 2022 at a university rheumatology outpatient clinic and included patients using GCs. A clinical pharmacist assessed patients for possible GC-related problems at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Identified problems, their causes, interventions to address these problems, and their outcomes were categorized using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE v9.1) classification system. The resolution of the problems was evaluated at the patient's next follow-up visit. RESULTS: A total of 156 patients were included, and 236 GC-related problems were identified in 66% of the patients. Adverse drug events (possible) accounted for the highest proportion of GC-related problems (94.1%), and the most common causes were lack of laboratory monitoring of GC-related adverse events (41.5%) and lack of drug treatment despite existing indications (39.8%). The median cumulative prednisolone dose was higher in patients with GC-related problems (3115 vs. 5455 mg, p = 0.007). The clinical pharmacist suggested 381 interventions: 47.7% (n = 182) at the 'prescriber level', 31.8% (n = 121) at the 'patient level', and 20.5% (n = 78) at the 'drug level'. Of those interventions, 98% were accepted, and 80.1% of the problems were solved. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the prevalence of GC-related problems is high in patients with rheumatic diseases. Integrating clinical pharmacists into the multidisciplinary rheumatology team provides an advantage in effectively identifying and managing GC-related problems at an early stage.

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BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess medication risks and determine factors influencing the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer inpatients. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted to identify drug-related problems (DRPs) based on medication reviews, including patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify sociodemographic, disease-related, and drug therapy-related factors influencing changes from hospital admission to discharge in the scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 162 inpatients with various hematological and solid cancer diseases was analyzed. Patients received a mean of 11.6 drugs and 92.6% of patients exhibited polymedication resulting in a mean of 4.0 DRPs per patient. Based on PRO data, 21.5% of DRPs were identified. Multiple linear regression models described the variance of the changes in global HRQOL and physical function in a weak-to-moderate way. While drug therapy-related factors had no influence, relapse status and duration of hospital stay were identified as significant covariates for global HRQOL and physical function, respectively. CONCLUSION: This analysis describes underlying DRPs in a German cancer inpatient population. PROs provided valuable information for performing medication reviews. The multiple linear regression models for global HRQOL and physical function provided explanations for changes during hospital stay.

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BACKGROUND: Despite previous efforts, medication safety in paediatrics remains a major concern. To inform improvement strategies and further research especially in outpatient care, we systematically reviewed the literature on the frequency and nature of drug-related hospital admissions in children. METHODS: Searches covered Embase, Medline, Web of Science, grey literature sources and relevant article citations. Studies reporting epidemiological data on paediatric drug-related hospital admissions published between 01/2000 and 01/2024 were eligible. Study identification, data extraction, and critical appraisal were conducted independently in duplicate using templates based on the 'Joanna Briggs Institute' recommendations. RESULTS: The review included data from 45 studies reporting > 24,000 hospitalisations for adverse drug events (ADEs) or adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Due to different reference groups, a total of 52 relative frequency values were provided. We stratified these results by study characteristics. As a percentage of inpatients, the highest frequency of drug-related hospitalisation was found with 'intensive ADE monitoring', ranging from 3.1% to 5.8% (5 values), whereas with 'routine ADE monitoring', it ranged from 0.2% to 1.0% (3 values). The relative frequencies of 'ADR-related hospitalisations' ranged from 0.2% to 6.9% for 'intensive monitoring' (23 values) and from 0.04% to 3.8% for 'routine monitoring' (8 values). Per emergency department visits, five relative frequency values ranged from 0.1% to 3.8% in studies with 'intensive ADE monitoring', while all other eight values were ≤ 0.1%. Heterogeneity prevented pooled estimates. Studies rarely reported on the nature of the problems, or studies with broader objectives lacked disaggregated data. Limited data indicated that one in three (median) drug-related admissions could have been prevented, especially by more attentive prescribing. Besides polypharmacy and oncological therapy, no other risk factors could be clearly identified. Insufficient information and a high risk of bias, especially in retrospective and routine observational studies, hampered the assessment. CONCLUSION: Given the high frequency of drug-related hospitalisations, medication safety in paediatrics needs to be further improved. As routine identification appears unreliable, clinical awareness needs to be raised. To gain more profound insights especially for generating improvement strategies, we have to address under-reporting and methodological issues in future research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42021296986).

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BACKGROUND: Dementia is a major global public health challenge, and with the growing elderly population, its prevalence is expected to increase in the coming years. In Sweden, municipalities are responsible for providing special housing for the elderly (SÄBO), which offers services and care for older individuals needing specific support. SÄBO is both the person´s home and a care environment and workplace. Polypharmacy in patients with dementia is common and increases the risk of medication interactions. Involving clinical pharmacists in medication reviews has been shown to enhance medication safety and improve prescribing practices. However, the views of the standard care team involved in medication prescribing, administration, monitoring and documentation on integrating pharmacist services have received less attention. Thus, this study aims to explore how pharmacists' contributions can enhance medication safety, improve patient care efficiency, and potentially alleviate the workload of general practitioners for people with dementia living in special housing. METHODS: This study has a descriptive qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis. The study was conducted in a southern Swedish special housing and included nurses, assistant nurses, general practitioners (GPs), and a pharmacist. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews were conducted over the phone. The Swedish Ethical Review Authority approved the study. RESULTS: The analysis revealed three main categories, and eleven subcategories.: (1) Integrating multidisciplinary approaches for holistic dementia care, (2) Strengthening dementia care through effective medication management and (3) Advancing dementia care through pharmacist integration and role expansion. Nurses focused on non-pharmacological treatments, while GPs emphasized the importance of medication reviews in assessing the benefits and side-effects of prescribed medication. Pharmacists were valued for their reliable medication expertise, appreciated by GPs for saving time and providing recommendations prior to consultations with individuals with dementia and their next-of-kin. Although medication reviews were considered beneficial, there was skepticism about their ability to solve all medication-related problems associated with dementia care. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the critical role pharmacists play in enhancing medication safety and patient care efficiency in special housing for individuals with dementia. Despite the value of their contributions, communication barriers within healthcare teams pose significant challenges. Recognising potential pharmacist role expansion is essential to alleviate the workload of GPs and ensure effective collaborative practices for better patient outcomes.

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Background: Diabetes is a major health concern globally and in Ethiopia. Ensuring optimal diabetes management through minimizing drug therapy problems is important for improving patient outcomes. However, data on the prevalence and factors associated with unmet drug-related needs in patients with diabetes in Ethiopia is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the prevalence of unmet drug-related needs among patients with diabetes mellitus in Ethiopia. Methods: A thorough exploration of databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Hinari, and Embase and Google Scholar, was conducted to identify pertinent studies. Inclusion criteria involved observational studies that reported the prevalence of unmet drug-related needs in Ethiopian patients with diabetes. The quality of the studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklists. A random-effects meta-analysis was employed to amalgamate data on study characteristics and prevalence estimates, followed by subsequent subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Graphical and statistical assessments were employed to evaluate publication bias. Results: Analysis of twelve studies involving 4,017 patients revealed a pooled prevalence of unmet drug-related needs at 74% (95% CI 63-83%). On average, each patient had 1.45 unmet drug-related needs. The most prevalent type of unmet need was ineffective drug therapy, 35% (95% CI 20-50). Type 2 diabetes, retrospective study designs, and studies from the Harari Region were associated with a higher prevalence. Frequently reported factors associated with the unmet drug-related needs includes multiple comorbidities, older age, and polypharmacy. Notably, the results indicated significant heterogeneity (I2 = 99.0%; p value < 0.001), and Egger's regression test revealed publication bias with p<0.001. Conclusion: The prevalence of unmet drug-related needs among diabetes patients with diabetes in Ethiopia is high with the most prevalent issue being ineffective drug therapy. Targeted interventions are needed; especially patients on multiple medications, advanced age, with comorbidities, and prolonged illness duration to improve diabetes management and outcomes. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, identifier CRD42024501096.

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Backgrounds and Objectives: Using certain medications during an intercurrent illness can increase the risk of drug related problems (DRP) occurring such as acute kidney injury (AKI). Medications that increase this risk include sulfonylureas, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, metformin, angiotensin receptor blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories drugs, and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SADMANS). Sick day medication guidance (SDMG) recommends withholding SADMANS medications during an intercurrent illness where adequate fluid intake cannot be maintained. But uptake of these recommendations is poor, and it is not known whether Australian pharmacists currently provide these recommendations during home medicine reviews (HMR) as per SDMG. We aimed to gain an understanding of the characteristics of DRP identified by pharmacists during HMR, especially those relating to SADMANS medications. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective audit of 201 randomly selected HMR reports, conducted by accredited pharmacists from 2020 to 2022, that were analysed in 2023. All DRP and recommendations were categorised using a modified DOCUMENT system. Results: Overall, over 98% of participants experienced a DRP and a total of 710 DRP were found, where participants experienced an average of 4.0 ± 2.0 DRP each. Non-SADMANS medications accounted for 83.1% of all DRPs, with nervous system medications contributing the most. Common problems seen in non-SADMANS medications were related to toxicity, over/underdosing and undertreating. Diuretics contributed most to DRP in SADMANS medications. Problems with SADMANS were mainly related to toxicity and contraindications. No pharmacists provided SDMG despite 71.1% of participants using at least one SADMANS medication. Conclusions: We conclude that DRP remain prevalent in community pharmacy settings. Sick day recommendations were not provided in the HMRs included in our study, possibly due to lack of pharmacist knowledge and awareness. To ensure best practice, more research should be conducted to determine pharmacists' knowledge of and barriers to provision of sick day recommendations.

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The integration of a large number of drugs, such as antineoplastic agents and cancer-related supportive care drugs, into the management of cancer patients exposes them to an increased number of drug-related problems (DRP). Clinical pharmacists contribute to drug management by actively intervening in detected DRP. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the applying a clinical pharmacist-driven comprehensive medication management (CMM) service to onco-hematology patients. This prospective interventional study was carried out over six-month duration, specifically from November 06, 2022 to April 5, 2023 in the oncology and hematology departments of the EHU Oran. The adherence to treatment was evaluated using the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). Whereas data related to the patient's general condition and medication history was assessed using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) Classification for Drug-Related Problems V9.1. Among the 130 patients included in the study, a total of 879 DRP were identified, with a mean of 6.78 (±1.72) DRP/patient, half of which were related to efficacy (51%). Almost half of our sample (44.6%) did not adhere to their treatment. The most frequent cause of DRP, accounting for (19.9%) of the cases, was the inappropriate administration by a health professional. A total of 875 pharmaceuticals interventions (PI) were proposed, 67.2% of which were focused at the drug level. The PI acceptance rate was 94.1%. The integration of CMM services in onco-hematology played an important role in optimizing dosing regimen and treatment administration methods, as well as preventing iatropathology in the management of cancer patients.

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BACKGROUND: Cancer patients are at a significantly increased risk of drug-related problems due to multiple drugs. An inclusive review of drug-related problems would offer an approach for healthcare providers to decrease the frequency of drug-related problems in cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to assess all characteristic components of drug-related problems in cancer patients, and explore actions taken to resolve the detected drug-related problems the results could be used as a baseline for epidemiology and potential related risk factors for drug-related problems in cancer patients. METHODS: The present systematic review was done according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The search consisted of studies listed from January 2015 and up to May 2023. A systematic review was carried out using an electronic database with a combination of Medical subject Headings of key words Medical Subject Heading terms. RESULTS: This evaluation included 17 studies from 11 different nations having 11 prospective and 6 retrospective studies. Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe classification system is the most commonly used to classify the drug-related problems. The prevalence of drug-related problems varied from 9.6% to 92.8%. The key predictors of the drug-related problems were age, polypharmacy, multiple comorbidities, and the stage of the disease. CONCLUSION: Drug-related problems are significantly more common among cancer patients. The age, polypharmacy, multiple comorbidities, and the stage of the malignancy all enhance the risk of acquiring drug-related problems. This review raises awareness of drug-related problems, encourages their early detection, and emphasizes the necessity for framing effective drug-related problem management strategies which will enhance patient care.

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Introduction: In 2021, a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system with an integrated clinical decision support system (CDSS) was implemented at a tertiary care center for the treatment of mental health conditions in Lübeck, Germany. To date, no study has been reported on the types and prevalence of drug-related problems (DRPs) before and after CPOE implementation in a psychiatric inpatient setting. The aim of this retrospective before-and-after cohort study was to investigate whether the implementation of a CPOE system with CDSS accompanied by the introduction of regular medication plausibility checks by a pharmacist led to a decrease of DRPs during hospitalization and unsolved DRPs at discharge in psychiatric inpatients. Methods: Medication charts and electronic patient records of 54 patients before (cohort I) and 65 patients after (cohort II) CPOE implementation were reviewed retrospectively by a clinical pharmacist. All identified DRPs were collected and classified based on 'The PCNE Classification V9.1', the German database DokuPIK, and the 'NCC MERP Taxonomy of Medication Errors'. Results: 325 DRPs were identified in 54 patients with a mean of 6 DRPs per patient and 151.9 DRPs per 1000 patient days in cohort I. In cohort II, 214 DRPs were identified in 65 patients with a mean of 3.3 DRPs per patient and 81.3 DRPs per 1000 patient days. The odds of having a DRP were significantly lower in cohort II (OR=0.545, 95% CI 0.412-0.721, p<0.001). The most frequent DRP in cohort I was an erroneous prescription (n=113, 34.8%), which was significantly reduced in cohort II (n=12, 5.6%, p<0.001). During the retrospective in-depth review, more DRPs were identified than during the daily plausibility analyses. At hospital discharge, patients had significantly less unsolved DRPs in cohort II than in cohort I. Discussion: The implementation of a CPOE system with an integrated CDSS reduced the overall prevalence of DRPs, especially of prescription errors, and led to a smaller rate of unsolved DRPs in psychiatric inpatients at hospital discharge. Not all DRPs were found by plausibility analyses based on the medication charts. A more interactive and interdisciplinary patient-oriented approach might result in the resolution of more DRPs.

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Aging is often associated with an increasing number of comorbidities that warrant use of multiple drugs which increases the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and drug-related problems (DRPs). The aim is to assess the prevalence of polypharmacy, PIMs, DDIs and DRPs among Faroese residents aged ≥90 years. In this population-based cross-sectional study, 494 individuals ≥90 years were invited and 298 (60%) participated. A pharmacist-led medication review was performed based on self-information, electronic patient journal and the Faroese Prescription Registry. The prevalence of polypharmacy was 74% with no sex-difference. Approximately 60% of participants used PIMs, primarily benzodiazepines and proton pump inhibitors, the latter being a frequently implicated medication in DRPs. Opioid use was low compared with other Nordic studies. DRPs were observed for 79% with discrepancies in the medication lists as the most common cause, and DDIs were identified for 47% of participants, mostly moderately clinically relevant DDIs. In conclusion, the medication use among the oldest old Faroese resembled that in other Nordic countries with a high prevalence of polypharmacy and use of PIMs, especially PPIs and benzodiazepines. However, no sex-difference was noted in medication use and the use of opioids was low.

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