Assessment of drug-related problems in depressive patients

BACKGROUND: Drug-related problems (DRPs) frequently occur in modern medical practice, increasing the morbidity and mortality as well as increasing cost of care. OBJECTIVE: The study is to evaluate the incidence of DRPs in patients admitted to a psychiatric department. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted for a period of 4 months at Baliga psychiatric hospital. All prescriptions of the study population were screened for DRPs such as adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) by using computerized database system. RESULTS: Out of 120 patients, 19 patients had observed 26 DRPs. Out of 33 patients, 19 patients had observed 26 ADRs and 14 patients had observed 24 pDDIs. The overall incidence of DRPs was 15.83%. Female patients outnumbered the male patients, in which 12 women constitute 10% followed by men 7 (5.83%). The common ADRs observed were hyponatremia and headache. Considering the outcomes, 20 (76.9%) cases recovered from ADRs and 20 (76.9%) of the ADRs were definitely preventable. Majority of ADRs were probable and were found to be mild to moderately severe. CONCLUSIONS: Age, female gender and polypharmacy were the risk factors for the developing DRPs.