Table 2.
Prescribing issues identified by pharmacists during medication reviews (both chart based and face to face)
| Indicators | Cases n (% of cases) |
Addressed n (% of cases) |
Missing addressed data* n (% of cases) |
| Potentially inappropriate prescribing | |||
| Proton pump inhibitors | 400 (44.2) | 169 (47.9) | 47 (11.8) |
| Short-acting benzodiazepine | 83 (9.2) | 8 (11.4) | 13 (15.7) |
| Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories | 75 (8.3) | 27 (38.6) | 5 (6.7) |
| Duplicate therapeutic drug class | 62 (6.8) | 51 (87.9) | 4 (6.5) |
| Tricyclic antidepressants | 46 (5.1) | 9 (25.7) | 11 (23.9) |
| Long-acting benzodiazepine | 28 (3.1) | 2 (7.7) | 2 (7.1) |
| Incorrect instructions | 27 (3.0) | 24 (96.0) | 2 (7.4) |
| Opioids | 26 (2.9) | 9 (45.0) | 6 (23.1) |
| Diuretics | 24 (2.7) | 14 (63.6) | 2 (8.3) |
| Others | 23 (2.5) | 8 (53.3) | 8 (34.8) |
| Aspirin | 20 (2.2) | 6 (42.9) | 6 (30.0) |
| Direct oral anticoagulants | 16 (1.8) | 9 (69.2) | 3 (18.8) |
| Antipsychotics | 13 (1.4) | 6 (50.0) | 1 (7.7) |
| Systemic corticosteroids | 13 (1.4) | 2 (16.7) | 1 (7.7) |
| Prescribing omission | 12 (1.3) | 2 (33.3) | 6 (50.0) |
| Bladder antimuscarinics | 9 (1.0) | 6 (75.0) | 1 (11.1) |
| First generation antihistamines | 8 (0.9) | 2 (28.6) | 1 (12.5) |
| Digoxin | 7 (0.8) | 2 (40.0) | 2 (28.6) |
| Prochlorperazine or metoclopramide | 7 (0.8) | 3 (50.0) | 1 (14.3) |
| Methotrexate | 4 (0.4) | 1 (33.3) | 1 (25.0) |
| First-generation calcium channel blockers | 2 (0.2) | 2 (100.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Theophylline | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Overall | 906 (100.0) | 362 (46.2) | 123 (13.6) |
| Deprescribing | |||
| Other | 64 (44.4) | 37 (68.5) | 10 (15.6) |
| Z-drugs | 39 (27.1) | 5 (17.9) | 11 (28.2) |
| Antihistamines | 12 (8.3) | 6 (100.0) | 6 (50.0) |
| Betahistine | 11 (7.6) | 5 (62.5) | 3 (27.3) |
| Bisphosphonates | 7 (4.9) | 5 (71.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Statins | 6 (4.2) | 5 (100.0) | 1 (16.7) |
| Antihyperglycaemics | 5 (3.5) | 4 (100.0) | 1 (20.0) |
| Overall | 144 (100.0) | 67 (59.8) | 32 (22.2) |
| Preferred drugs | |||
| Statins | 159 (33.8) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.3) |
| Angiotensin II receptor blockers | 76 (16.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Proton pump inhibitors | 75 (15.9) | 18 (24.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors | 55 (11.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Beta-blockers | 30 (6.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Calcium channel blockers | 24 (5.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| ACE inhibitors | 15 (3.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Inhalers | 13 (2.8) | 9 (75.0) | 1 (7.7) |
| Urology drugs | 12 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (16.7) |
| Oral anticoagulants | 10 (2.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Overall | 471 (100.0) | 27 (5.8) | 5 (1.1) |
*Missing addressed data refers to cases where the status of whether a prescribing issue has been addressed was not recorded.