What is it about?
This prospective study described the interventions of hospital pharmacists in discontinuing inappropriate drugs or reducing drug doses.
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Why is it important?
This was the first multicenter prospective observational study conducted in Japan to demonstrate how hospital pharmacists contribute to eliminating polypharmacy among inpatients. Of the 1,415 patients involved in the study, the pharmacists recommended discontinuing or reducing the dosage for 347 patients (24.5%). A total of 391 patients received recommendations from pharmacists’ to reduce IMs use, of which 368 (94.1%) were accepted. A total of 523 drugs were discontinued following the pharmacist’s recommendations. Pharmacist intervention improved hypnotic sedation, delirium, and hypotension.
Perspectives
There was a significant reduction in the number of medications used and a decrease in polypharmacy. The study also highlighted the active role of hospital pharmacists in addressing polypharmacy by discontinuing inappropriate drugs or reducing the dosage of regularly prescribed medications, which contributed to the mitigation of adverse drug events.
Shinya Suzuki
National Cancer Center Hospital East
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Multicenter prospective observational study on hospital pharmacist interventions to reduce inappropriate medications, Frontiers in Pharmacology, June 2023, Frontiers, DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1195732.
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