Evaluation of drug-related problems in an outpatient hemodialysis unit and the impact of a clinical pharmacist.

Purpose: Drug-related morbidity and mortality are significant problems in the U.S. Recognition and resolution of drug-related problems (DRP) will decrease drug-related morbidity and mortality and promote optimal therapeutic outcomes. It was the objective of this study to identify DRP in hemodialysis outpatients by performing medication reviews; make appropriate recommendations and determine the significance of any interventions; and estimate outcome in terms of any changes in number of medications/patient or doses/day.

Methods: A thorough medication review was conducted with each patient after review of the computerized medication profiles and medical records. Each updated profile was assessed by a clinical pharmacist for the presence of any of the 8 classical DRP plus 2 additional categories (therapeutic duplication and other [specific for dialysis e.g., dry weight]). Appropriate recommendations were made to the physician. Accepted recommendations were deemed as interventions and assigned a significance rank on a published scale of 1 (adverse significance) to 6 (extremely significant) by each of the investigators. A final rank was assigned upon agreement between investigators. Changes in numbers of doses/day or medications/patient were determined.

Results: 49 patients were reviewed and 45 patients (21 women, 24 men) were included in the final analysis. Over one month 126 DRP were identified and 102 interventions were made. Drug interactions constituted the most common DRP (27.5%). The second most common DRP (26.5%) was in the dialysis-specific group. The number of interventions per significance rank were as follows: rank 1:0 (0%); rank 2: 7 (6.9%); rank 4: 80 (78%); rank 5: 5 (4.9%); rank 6: 1 (1%). Patients were taking a mean of 10.9 +/- 3.9 medications and a mean of 14.5 +/- 6 doses/day (range, 2-33) prior to the study and 10.7 +/- r and 14.4 +/- 5.8 by the end of the study period.

Conclusions: With the addition of a clinical pharmacist in an hemodialysis unit numerous DRP were detected and interventions made. The majority of interventions were significant and possibly led to better therapeutic outcomes.