Assessment of Drug Related Problems in Medical Wards of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2015-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Drug related problems are common in hospitalized patients. Ten to thirty percent of hospital
admissions are thought to be directly related to drug related problems. Drug related problems
may lead to reduced quality of life, increase hospital stay, increase overall health care cost and
even increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. Data regarding drug related problems in
inpatient settings in Ethiopia is limited. This study was aimed to assess drug related problems in
the internal medicine wards of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. A prospective cross sectional
study was conducted on 225 patients admitted in medical wards of TASH. Drug related problems
were identified through review of patients’ medical charts. In addition to this, discussion with
patients and physicians was conducted to get supplementary information and clarification on
some patient’s medical information. Data regarding patient characteristics, medications,
diagnosis, length of hospitalization, investigation and laboratory results were collected. Epi Info
7 was used for data entry and data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics,
cross-tabs, binary and multiple logistic regressions were utilized. P < 0.05 was used to declare
association. Drug risk ratio was used to identify drugs that were prone to create DRP. DRP was
found in 52 % of study subjects. Drug interaction (48 % of all DRPs) was the top ranking DRP
followed by ADR (23%). Antibiotics were common to be involved in DRP followed by GI
medicines, CNS drugs and medicines affecting the blood. Cimetidine, tramadol, heparin and
warfarin were the top ranking drugs involved in DRP. Gentamycin, warfarin, nifedipin,
cimetidine, simvastatin, prednisolone, digoxin and pethidine were drugs with the highest drug
risk ratio. The number of drugs taken by the patient per day is an important risk factor for DRPs.
There was no significant association between occurrence of DRP and sex, age, hospital stay and
number of co-morbidity in the study subjects.
Key words: Drug related problem, Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Medical wards
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Keywords
Drug related problem; Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital; Medical wards