ABSTRACT:
Objective:Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Clinical pharmacists in organized health care systems have to develop comprehensive, in progress programs for monitoring and reporting of ADRs. The current study aimed to assess the pattern of ADRs associated with polypharmacy in the Department of General Medicine of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Material and methods: A prospective-observational study was conducted in theDepartment of General Medicine by clinical pharmacists for a period of six months to assess the causality, level of severity, preventability and predictability of identified ADRs. All the relevant information was collected from patient’s record file in a standard case record form. Results: During the study period 150 patients were screened for ADRs, a total of 96 ADRs were observed in 61 patients of which 31(50.8%) were females and 30(49.2%) were males. Endocrine system 38(39.58%) was found to be the most affected organ system. Hyponatremia was found to be the most frequently occurring ADR.Of the reported ADRs, type A 56 (58.3%) ADRs was the most common, compared to type B in 6(6.3%). Causality assessment of ADRs by WHO, Naranjo’s and Karch and Lasagna’s Scale which revealed that probable constituted increasingly(57.3%, 56.2%, 50% respectively). The results showed that 87(90.6%) of the ADRs were definitely preventable and 63(65.6%) ADRs were predictable.Severity assessment of ADRs disclosed that 36(37.5%) ADRs were of level 3. Conclusion:ADRs are one of the significant Drug Related Problem (DRP)in the hospital setting. Our study has revealed that prevention of ADRs are important as they cause morbidity in patients.This study highlights the importance of reinforcement strategies to appoint well-trained clinical pharmacist to identify ADR, toimprove rational prescribing and therapeutic drug monitoring.