ABSTRACT
AIM: Acetaminophen is widely used in hospital settings and often considered as nontoxic. We conducted a multicentric study in order to evaluate its proper use. METHOD: Prescriptions from five general hospitals were analyzed, according to dose adjustments required in renal or liver failure, weight or chronic alcoholism, determined using a literature review. Other criteria have been assessed: indication for parenteral access, accuracy of administration time and pain assessment. RESULTS: Among the 1256 analyzed prescriptions, 21% are non-compliants. The main causes of non-compliance (NC) are adjustments to weight and renal failure. Higher NC rates concern chronic alcoholism and liver failure. CONCLUSION: Misuse of acetaminophen seems related to a lack of official recommendations concerning dose adjustments. Hospital pharmacists have an important role to play in the promotion of proper use of acetaminophen. Therefore we established a prescribing aid.
Subject(s)
Acetaminophen/therapeutic use , Analgesics, Non-Narcotic/therapeutic use , Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Drug Misuse/statistics & numerical data , Female , Hospitals/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Male , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: By the Order of 6 April 2011, the pharmacist must validate all the prescriptions containing "high-risk drugs" or those of "patients at risk". To optimize this clinical pharmacy activity, we identified high-risk drugs. METHOD: A list of high-risk drugs has been established using literature, pharmacists' interventions (PI) performed in our hospital and a survey sent to hospital pharmacists. In a prospective study (analysis of 100 prescriptions for each high-risk drug selected), we have identified the most relevant to target. RESULTS: We obtained a statistically significant PI rate (P<0.05) for digoxin, oral anticoagulants direct, oral methotrexate and colchicine. CONCLUSION: This method of targeted pharmaceutical validation based on high-risk drugs is relevant to detect patients with high risk of medicine-related illness.
