A prospective observational study evaluating drug-related problems and their impact on patient-related outcomes in...

This observational study assessed drug-related problems (DRPs) and their effect on patient-related outcomes (PROs) in 120 hospitalized epileptic patients. Antiseizure medications (ASM) administered included levetiracetam (98%), valproic acid (31%), carbamazepine (18.3%), and phenytoin (16%). Antibiotics such as ceftriaxone (64%), vancomycin (30%), meropenem (31%), and piperacillin-tazobactam (53%) were primarily used to treat hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and status epilepticus. Klebsiella pneumoniae (17%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (16%) were the main culprits causing HAIs. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), fever, and sinusitis are the HAIs faced by 45% of the patients. PCNE classification V.9.1 was used for the evaluation of DRPs in hospitalized epileptic patients. DRPs are found to be involved in causing many serious problems in hospitalized epileptic patients; they not only cause drug-drug interactions (DDIs) but also affect the patient's quality of life (QOL), morbidity, and mortality rate. This study was incredibly insightful in evaluating DRPs and numerous clinical scenarios that affect PROs. Irrational use of antibiotics and other narrow therapeutic drugs should be administered and prescribed carefully since they have an impact on patient QOL, extended hospital stay, expensive treatment, and mortality rates in developing low and middle-income countries.