The incidence and nature of drug-related hospital admission: A 6-month observational study in a tertiary health care hospital

OBJECTIVE: To assess and evaluate the frequency, severity and classification of drug-related problems (DRP) resulting in hospitalization in an internal medicine department of a large tertiary care hospital and to identify any patient, prescriber, drug, and system factors associated with these events. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective and descriptive study carried out in Department of Medicine, Government Medical College, Jagdalpur. The DRP and relevant data were recorded on the personal record of every individual patient, filled during the course of treatment. RESULT: A total of 3560 patient’s records were analyzed. Among them118 admissions were due to DRP. The most common DRP noted was noncompliance in part of patient’s i.e 55 (46.6%). Statistically significant correlations were found in the number of prescribed drugs and over the counter drugs (OTC) used by patients. CONCLUSION: The DRP that attributed to hospital admission are mostly avoidable through proper patient education and strengthening the need of pharmacovigilance with little more vigilance in patient care.