PHARMACEUTICAL CARE INTERVENTIONS OF INPATIENT PRESCRIPTIONS AT HOSPITAL PAKAR SULTANAH FATIMAH MUAR

Prescribing medications plays a vital role in patient healthcare. The rational drug use is now a significant concern for public health due to incorrect medication prescribing. In promoting rational evidence-based prescribing, prescriptions will be screened and reviewed by pharmacists before medications are dispensed whereby pharmaceutical care intervention (PCI) will be conducted.

Methods

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and types of PCI detected at an inpatient pharmacy and to identify the stage of dispensing process where the PCI are frequently detected. The PCI that included was focusing on the prescribing errors. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted over a period of three months started from 1st March 2023 until 31st May 2023 where new medication orders using Pharmacy Information System (PhIS) of all patients warded screened by Inpatient Pharmacy Department were included.

Results

The prevalence of PCI was 0.006%. The most common type of interventions performed were the prescribed frequency (31.5%) followed by dose (30.0%), drug (19.2%) and polypharmacy (10.8%). The drug category based on ATC classification with a high percentage of interventions was anti-infective for systemic use (34.6%) followed by nervous system (16.2%) and alimentary tract and metabolism (14.7%). Half of the PCIs were detected during screening stage (51.2%) whiles 36.0% were detected during counterchecking and the least detected is during medication filling (12.8%). The highest prescribing errors was from medical wards (50.7%), followed by surgical (24.1%) and orthopaedics (14.8%).

Conclusion

The prescribers and clinical pharmacist and inpatient pharmacist are doing well in maintaining patient care. Prescriptions that involve drug category of anti-infective required more attentions especially on drug choice, dose, frequency, and polypharmacy.