Pharmacist’s interventions in reducing the incidences of drug related problems in any practice setting

A drug-related problem is an event or circumstance involving drug treatment that actually or potentially interferes with the patient’s experiencing an optimum outcome of medical care. The pharmacists can play key role in reducing the incidences of DRPs by making appropriate intervention at each stage and by working with other healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to observe the Pharmacist clinical knowledge about DRPs and the extent to which they participate in reducing the incidences of DRPs. A questionnaire based survey was conducted among hundred pharmacists selected by random sampling in different health care settings from Lahore district. According to data collected it was found that 100% of Pharmacists had knowledge about DRPs and Pharmaceutical care. Different types of DRPs were identified by Pharmacists but only 41% of Pharmacists reported these DRPs and 37% of Pharmacists intervened to reduce the incidences of DRPs. Majority of the Pharmacists had knowledge about DRPs, other related terms and also about reporting but most of them did not actively participate to reduce incidences of DRPs because of lack of their acceptance by society and other health care professionals, lack of proper reporting system, lack of incentives and lack of time due to managerial job structure specially in case of retail pharmacy setup. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/icpj.v4i2.21483 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal, January 2015, 4(2): 347-352