Drug-Related Problems in Pulmonary Hypertension with Valvular Heart Disease

Abstract

Purpose

The occurrence of drug-related problems (DRPs) and their causes specifically among pulmonary hypertension (PH) with valvular heart disease (VHD) has not been evaluated and is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the percentage of occurrence, types, and causes of DRPs among PH with VHD patients.

Patients and Methods

An observational retrospective study was conducted at Cardiology Centre, Hospital Serdang, from 1st January to 30th April 2021. Data were collected from medication charts, medical progress notes, laboratory and operative charts through electronic Health Information System (eHIS). The types and causes of DRPs were identified and classified based on Pharmaceutical Care Network of Europe’s (PCNE) classification system V9.02. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results

All patients (100%) experienced at least one DRP. Total number of DRPs identified was 120 encounters which were associated with 503 causes. The majority of problems were related to treatment effectiveness (59.1%) and treatment safety (33.4%). The causes of DRPs are mainly related to inappropriate monitoring including therapeutic drug monitoring (18.6%), inappropriate combination of drugs, or drugs and dietary/herbal supplement (10.3%), drug dose was too high (8.9%), drug dose was too low (8.2%) and inappropriate timing of administration or dosing intervals (7.7%).

Conclusion

The percentage of DRP occurrence was high in the studied population. Treatment effectiveness and treatment safety issues were the main DRPs identified with various preventable causes. The findings may be useful to guide the planning of measures to prevent and solve future DRPs in the population.

Keywords:

• pharmaceutical care
• adverse drug reactions
• treatment effectiveness
• treatment safety

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics Approval

The Malaysian Medical Research Ethical Committee [NMRR-20-2396-55935 (IIR.)] and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Ethical Committee (UKM PPI/111/8/JEP-2021-525) approved this study.

Acknowledgments

We thank all the staff of Pharmacy department, Cardiothoracic anesthesia and perfusion department and Cardiothoracic department of Hospital Serdang.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.