Validation of a score to identify inpatients at risk of a drug-related problem during a 4-year period

OBJECTIVE: Drug-related problems (DRP) produce high morbidity and mortality. It is therefore essential to identify patients at higher risk of these events. This study aimed to validate a DRP risk score in a large number of inpatients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Validation of a previously designed score to identify inpatients at risk of experiencing at least one DRP in a tertiary university hospital from 2010 to 2013. DRP were detected by a pharmacy warning system integrated in the electronic medical record. The score included the following variables associated with a higher risk of DRP: prescription of a higher number of drugs, greater comorbidity, advanced age, specific ATC groups and certain major diagnostic categories. RESULTS: The study included a total of 52,987 admissions; of these, at least one DRP occurred in 14.9%. After validation of the score (period range, 2010–2013: 0.746–0.764), the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.751 (95% CI: 0.745–0.756). CONCLUSIONS: This value is higher than those reported in other studies describing validation of risk scores. The score showed good capacity to identify those patients at higher risk of DRP in a much larger sample of inpatients than previously described in the literature. This tool allows optimization of drug therapy monitoring in admitted patients.