Drug-Related Problems and Pharmacists' Interventions in Hypertensive Outpatients: A Multicenter Prospective Study in 3 Vietnamese Hospitals

Background: Clinical pharmacists' interventions (PIs) on drug-related problems (DRPs) in Vietnamese hypertensive outpatients are limited. Objectives: The objective was to investigate the prevalence and nature of DRPs, and factors which are likely to have DRPs, types of PIs, and their acceptance rate in 3 Vietnamese hospitals. Method: A prospective interventional study was conducted over a period of 3 months in 3 hospitals (from October 2021 to March 2022). Clinical pharmacists conducted medication reviews after collecting patient information from prescriptions and patient interviewing, and then identified the DRPs and suggested PIs according to the Vi-Med tool. These DRPs and PIs were reviewed by other superior clinical pharmacists and a consensus meeting with 3 cardiologists. Results: Of 381 patients included, 344 (90.23%) experienced 1 or more DRPs. A total of 820 DRPs were identified with an average of 2.15 DRPs per patient and 415 (50.61%) were hypertension-related issues. The most common DRPs identified were "administration mode" (46.34%), "missing indication" (18.05%), "non-conformity indication" (17.80%), and "dosage" (11.95%). Comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.985, 95% CI: 1.597-9.942, P = 0.003) was the predictor of DRPs. Clinical pharmacists provided 739 PIs and 94.45% were accepted by physicians. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that DRPs were very common in hypertensive outpatients and highlighted the role of clinical pharmacists to identify and resolve DRPs through prompt interventions.