Assessment of Drug Related Problems and Pharmacist Interventions in Pediatric Drug Therapy in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital.

Children are most susceptible to diseases and drug related problem as due to immature physiological functions. Though most of them are self-limiting, drug therapy is being regarded major component of pediatric management in healthcare settings. The aim of the study was to identify the type of drug related problems and assess the impact of pharmacist interventions in hospitalized pediatric patients. A Prospective interventional study was carried out in paediatric wards of a tertiary care teaching hospital over a period of 8 months from July 2015 to February 2016. The drug therapy details of the patients were collected from inpatient paediatric case records. Clinical pharmacist reviewed the drug therapy, identified the drug related problems during ward rounds and discussed with the physicians and suitable suggestions was provided which had been documented. A total of 46 drug therapy problems were identified from 39 patient case records. The number of drug related problems was predominant in males than females. Drug related problems were commonly seen in patient’s ≤ 1 years of age. The most common drug related problems was found to be drug- drug selection (71 %) followed by adverse drug reaction (8.1%). The most frequent suggestions by the clinical pharmacist were on substitution of drug (42.8%). The acceptance rate of suggestions and the changes in drug therapy was found to be (30.2%). The level of significance of drug related problems was found to be moderate significance in grade. The identification of drug related problems and their prevention through pharmacist interventions in pediatrics drug therapy may help to avoid the unwanted harmful effects of drugs that will helps in improving therapeutic outcome and quality of care.