Drug-related problems
Table 3 lists the DRP identified by the structured medication review process. A total of 992 (potential) DRP were observed in the data of the 340 patients who participated (mean 2.9 ± 1.7). For nearly all patients (95.9%), at least one existing or potential DRP was detected. Two or more DRP were identified in 78% of patients. The number of DRP was significantly associated with the number of drugs per patient (P , 0.001). The most common DRP identified using the checklist included no drugs prescribed but clear indication, unnecessarily long duration of treatment, too low dose of drug, and incorrect drug selection. Ten percent of DRP associated with medication in 71 patients were drug–drug interactions.
Frequently occurring DRP identified by patient interview were fear of side effects and no knowledge of drug use. Table 4 shows the influence of different factors on the number of DRP corrected for age and sex. For patients discharged from the department of pulmonary diseases, significantly more DRP were found, as well as for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes. Adjustment for age, sex, and number of drugs taken did not alter this ranking.