Pharmacotherapeutic Monitoring and Drug-Related Problems in a Group of Patients From Colombia: Cross-Sectional Study,...

A pharmacotherapeutic follow-up service is attended by pharmacists who systematically identify drug-related problems and work to resolve their associated negative outcomes. The aim was to describe the characteristics of a pharmacotherapeutic follow-up service and the factors associated with the presentation of drug-related problems in a group of patients affiliated to the Colombian Health System.

This was a cross-sectional study of patients who attended a DADER method-based pharmacotherapeutic follow-up service. The drug-related problems and their associated negative outcomes as well as the interventions performed on the patients were identified. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were performed considering the presence of drug-related problems as a dependent variable (p < 0.05).

A total of 18 563 patients were identified, with an average age of 64.8 ± 14.9 years, and 66.3% were women. The most common chronic diseases were hypertension (54.3%), diabetes mellitus (29.2%), and rheumatoid arthritis (25.9%). The average number of medications/patient was 5.0 ± 4.1. Drug-related problems were documented for 60.8% of the patients (1.6 drug-related problems/patient), mainly due to drug-drug interactions (25.4%). Negative outcomes associated with medication use were observed for 60.0% of the patients (42.0% predominantly related to safety). The most common intervention was patient education (50.9%), and the negative outcomes associated with Medication use were resolved for 31.1% of patients who had two or more consultations. Patients over 65 years of age (OR:1.20; 95% CI:1.06-1.36), those from Bogotá-Cundinamarca (OR:1.62; 95% CI:1.52-1.73), those treated with ≥ 10 drugs (OR:1.21; 95% CI:1.07-1.36) and those treated with anticoagulants (OR:1.91; 95% CI:1.70-2.14) were more likely to experience drug-related problems.

Drug-related problems were frequently identified, with drug-drug interactions being the most prevalent problem. Drug-related problems were associated with increased age, an increased number of prescribed medications and the use of anticoagulants. Safety-related negative outcomes associated with medication use were common, education was the predominant intervention, and one-third of the negative outcomes associated with medication use were resolved.