Resumen de Assessment of drug-related problems among inpatients of general surgery department using aps-doc classification system

Aparna Sajan, Ameena Sherin Pm, Stephen James Manjally, Abhijith S. Shetty, Nandakumar Up, Sharad Chand, Bharath Raj Kc

• Objective: To identify and categorize various drug-related problems (DRP) among the patients admitted to the general surgery department using APS-Doc classification system and also to find out the factors significantly associated with DRP.

  Method: A retrospective cross-sectional study of six months duration was conducted among 500 inpatients. Patient data collection form and DRP documentation form was prepared according to the need of the study. Relevant socio-demographics of the patients as well as their drug therapy details were recorded. Once a DRP was identified, it was categorized based on APS-Doc classification system and further analyzed.

  Results: Among 500 patients enrolled, 152 (30.4%) presented a total of 226 DRP.

  Among the various categories of DRP, the highest identified were drug-drug interactions as indicated by literature 192 (85%), followed by symptom of an adverse drug reaction 22 (9.7%). Tramadol 104 (25.5%) was identified as the drug associated with the highest number of DRP. Variables including age (p = 0.005), length of hospital stay (p <0.001), smoking (p = 0.05) and presence of co-morbidities (p <0.001) were found to have statistically significant association with DRP. Cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.001), endocrine disorders (p = 0.001) and psychiatric disorders (p = 0.052) among various comorbidities presented by patients also had significant association.

  Conclusion: This research concluded a significant incidence of DRP among surgery patients. Tramadol was the frequently associated drugs, whereas the co-morbidities were also significantly associated with occurrence of DRP