ASSESSMENT OF DRUG THERAPY PROBLEMS AMONG CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF QUETTA CITY, PAKISTAN

Aim:The current study was aimed to identify drug related problems among chronic kidney disease patients who were diagnosed with end stage renal disease. Methodology:A retrospective study was conducted on hospitalized patients diagnosed with end stage renal disease. Six months patients profile data was collected from the record room of the tertiary care hospital (Government Provincial Sandeman Hospital Quetta). Patients' demographic information and prescribed drugs were collected through a pre validated data collection form were analyzed for the identification of drug therapy problems. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software was used for data analysis and data was presented descriptively. Results:A total of 202 patients profiles were assessed out of which 177 (87.62 %) were males and 25 (12.38%) were females. Average age found in the study was 42+15 years. The total number of drugs prescribed to the patients was 946 with the average of 5 drugs per prescription. Overall 501 drug related problems were identified with the average of 2.4 problems per prescription. The most commonly reported drug related problems were inappropriate dosage (146, 72.3%), drug interactions (120, 54.4%), contraindication (56, 27.7%), treatment duplicity (43, 21.2%), need of additional treatment (40, 19.8%), economic reasons (23, 11.3), adverse drug reactions (18, 8.9%), side effects (17, 8.4%) and other medication being more effective (13, 6.43%). Conclusion:Drug therapy problems found per prescription were quite high that needs urgent attention. Within this context, the role of clinical pharmacist should be highlighted to identify, resolve and prevent drug therapy problems especially in such critical area of care. Keywords: Drug therapy problems, chronic kidney disease patients, tertiary care hospital, Quetta, Pakistan.