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. 2020 Sep 11;11:571906. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.571906

Table 2.

Number of drug-related problems and causes of all medicines and antibiotics during pharmacy intervention.

Description All medicines Antibiotics
Problem N Proportion, % N Proportion, %
P1 Treatment effectiveness 146 34.2 107 42.1
 P1.1 No effect of drug treatment 14 3.3 12 4.7
 P1.2 Effect of drug treatment not
 optimal
109 25.5 87 34.3
 P1.3 Untreated symptoms or
 indication
23 5.4 8 3.1
P2 Treatment safety 133 31.1 57 22.4
 P2.1 Adverse drug event (possibly)
 occurring
133 31.1 57 22.4
P3 Other 148 34.7 90 35.4
 P3.1 Problem with cost-effectiveness
 of the treatment
3 0.7 0 0.0
 P3.2 Unnecessary drug-treatment 89 20.8 46 18.1
 P3.3 Needs additional TDM 49 11.5 38 15.0
 P3.4 Antibiotics De-escalation 7 1.6 6 2.4
Total 427 100.0 254 100.0
Cause N Proportion, % N Proportion, %
C1 Drug selection 198 41.3 96 33.6
 C1.1 Inappropriate drug according
 to guidelines/formulary
45 9.4 36 12.6
 C1.2 Inappropriate drug (within
 guidelines but otherwise
 contraindicated)
42 8.8 14 4.9
 C1.3 No indication for drug 25 5.2 9 3.1
 C1.4 Inappropriate combination of
 drugs, or drugs and herbal
 medications, or drugs and dietary
 supplements
13 2.7 1 0.3
 C1.5 Inappropriate duplication of
 therapeutic group or active
 ingredient
12 2.5 8 2.8
 C1.6 No or incomplete drug
 treatment in spite of existing
 indication
42 8.8 16 5.6
 C1.7 Too many drugs prescribed for
 indication
5 1.0 3 1.0
 C1.8 Necessary genetic testing
 before drug initiation
14 2.9 9 3.1
C2 Drug form 7 1.5 0 0
 C2.1 Inappropriate drug form (for
 this patient)
7 1.5 0 0
C3 Dose selection 139 29.0 106 37.1
 C3.1 Drug dose too low 40 8.4 33 11.5
 C3.2 Drug dose too high 64 13.4 42 14.7
 C3.3 Dosage regimen not frequent
 enough
33 6.9 30 10.5
 C3.4 Dosage regimen too frequent 2 0.4 1 0.3
C4 Treatment duration 65 13.6 33 11.5
 C4.2 Duration of treatment too long 65 13.6 33 11.5
C6 Drug use process 4 0.8 1 0.3
 C6.1 Inappropriate timing of administration or dosing intervals 4 0.8 1 0.3
C8 Patient transfer related 2 0.4 0 0
 C8.3 Discharge/transfer information
 about medication incomplete or
 missing
2 0.4 0 0
C9 Other 64 13.4 50 17.5
 C9.1 No or inappropriate outcome
 monitoring (incl. TDM)
64 13.4 50 17.5
Total 479 100.0 286 100.0

TDM, therapeutic drug monitoring.