Related Experiment Videos
Computerised advice on drug dosage to improve prescribing practice
R T Walton1, E Harvey, S Dovey
1University of Oxford Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Imperial Cancer Research Fund General Practice Research Group, Institute of Health Sciences, Old Road, Headington, Oxford, UK, OX3 7LF. rwalton@ermine.ox.ac.uk
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|May 2, 2001
Summary
Computer-assisted drug dosage systems significantly reduce time to therapeutic control, toxic drug levels, adverse reactions, and hospital stay. This review supports computer assistance for optimizing drug dosing in patient care.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Health Informatics
- Evidence-Based Medicine
Background:
- Maintaining therapeutic drug concentrations is challenging.
- Computer systems can aid physicians in optimizing drug dosages.
- Computer-assisted drug dosing has the potential for significant patient health benefits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of computer support systems in drug dosage management.
- To determine if computer-assisted drug dosing improves patient outcomes.
- To inform the broader availability of these technologies.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of randomized trials, interrupted time series, and controlled before-and-after studies.
- Searched multiple databases (Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE) and hand-searched journals.
- Included studies focused on health professionals managing drug dosages and patient health outcomes.
Main Results:
- Fifteen trials involving 1229 patients were analyzed.
- Computer support significantly reduced time to therapeutic control (SMD -0.44), toxic drug levels (RD -0.12), adverse reactions (RD -0.06), and hospital stay (SMD -0.32).
- A trend towards higher drug doses was observed but not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Evidence supports the use of computer assistance for drug dosage determination.
- Further clinical trials are needed to confirm benefits in general practice settings.
- Computerized drug dosing systems show promise for improving patient safety and care efficiency.