Abstract:
Background: Incidents of drug-related problems (DRPs) in oncology units are common due to
polypharmacy and comorbidities. Additionally, the use of highly toxic medications for cancer
treatment increases the severity of such DRPs. Clinical pharmacists' interventions in oncology
units can contribute to optimising drug therapy by identifying and resolving DRPs.
Objectives: To identify DRPs in the inward medication lists of patients in an oncology unit and
classify them using a standard approach
Method: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out from July to September 2023 in
the oncology unit of National Hospital Kandy by a trained student pharmacist under the guidance
of experienced clinical pharmacy educators. Patients diagnosed with cancer and ≥ 18 years were
recruited using convenient sampling. Patients who were diagnosed with psychological conditions,
and with communication difficulties were excluded from the study. A comprehensive medication
history was obtained following written and verbal consent from the participants. Patients’ inward
medications from bed head tickets were reconciled and reviewed. DRPs were detected by this
process were classified according to the PCNE V9.1 classification.
Results: Seventy-four cancer patients were recruited and (20, 27.02%) of them had at least one
DRP. The majority of DRPs were caused by inappropriate combination of drugs (10, 45.45%)
followed by communication errors and poor medication adherence (8, 36.36%) untreated
symptoms or indications (1, 4.54%) adverse drug events (1, 4.54%) incomplete drug treatment (1,
4.54%) and drug unavailability (1, 4.54%).
Conclusion: A considerable number of DRPs were identified and classified by the student
pharmacist in the inward medication lists of oncology patients, highlighting the importance of
identifying and correcting these issues. The findings underscore the necessity for targeted
interventions to improve drug therapy outcomes in oncology patients and future studies on clinical
pharmacy interventions to enhance the patient safety and treatment efficacy.
