Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (한국임상약학회지)

Korean College Of Clinical Pharmacy (한국임상약학회)
권호 표지

Polypharmacy in Patients Discharged from Oncology Department

종양내과 퇴원 환자의 다제병용 분석

  • Bae, Hyunjin (Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Hahn, Jimin (Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Yong Hwa (Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Kim, Hyangsook (Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Hye Suk (Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Se-Hoon (Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Heo, Dae Seog (Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Juyeun (College of Pharmacy and Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hanyang University)
  • Received : 2012.11.30
  • Accepted : 2013.02.01
  • Published : 2013.03.31
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Abstract

Background: Patients diagnosed with cancer tend to have multiple risk factors for drug related problems such as old age, comorbid conditions, self-medication, additional medications for supportive therapy, and the cancer treatment itself. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate notable polypharmacy and related problems in oncology patients during hospitalization or following clinic visit. Method: The electronic medical records of patients who were discharged from oncology division at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) from June $1^{st}$ to June $30^{th}$, 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 334 discharged patients were included in this study. Among them, 221 patients had pre-admission medications. Forty percent of the patients, including 60.3% of elderly patients (over 65 years of age) were prescribed more than 5 kinds of medications. Twenty percent of the patients were prescribed to take medications more than 7 times a day. Medication duplications were observed in 2.4% of patients. In 10.5% of the reviewed patients, 47 cases of potential drug-drug interaction including 3 cases of contraindication and 17 cases of major clinical implication according to Micromedex were detected. Medication changes were made in 88% of patients during hospitalization and in 94.7% of patients at their first visit after discharge. Antidiarrheal agent (loperamide) was prescribed along with laxatives in 18.5% of the prescriptions and inadequate instructions on how to take it were observed in 63% of the prescriptions. Conclusion: This study identified the prevalence of polypharmacy and related problems in cancer patients, which presents the need for an active role of pharmacists in pharmaceutical care in oncology wards.

Keywords

References

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