Drug therapy problems in asthma identified during pharmacist-led educational interventions

Abstract

Background: Drug therapy problems (DTPs) interfere with desired goals of therapy. This study evaluated DTPs in asthma identified during a pharmacist-led intervention in the asthma clinics of two Nigerian hospitals. Methods: This intervention study was conducted in the asthma clinics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Eligible participants were patients with asthma recruited into a pharmacist-led intervention study and followed up for 6 months. The Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe – Drug-related Problem Classification V6.2 in English (PCNE-DRP V6.2) was utilized to evaluate the DTPs. Results: Seventy-eight patients with asthma participated. A total of 158 DTPs were identified. Majority of the DTPs were manifest (96.2%). Salmeterol/Fluticasone (Seretide® Diskus®) was most implicated (43.7%). The most common type of DTP was patients not benefitting from the optimal effect of their drug treatment (63.9%). More than half of the causes were from drug under-used/administered (55.1%) or the patients unable to use the drug form as directed (60.1%). About three-quarter (76.6%) of the DTPs were totally solved. Conclusion: Drug use/administration process was the major cause of the DTPs. Patient counseling accounted for a bulk of the interventions. Pharmacists should be proactive in preventing, identifying, and resolving DTPs.