Evaluation of the impact of pharmaceutical care service on hospitalized patients with chronic kidney disease in Jordan.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The primary goal of the present study was to implement and evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical care service for hospitalized chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in Jordan. SETTING: Nephrology wards of one of the largest general hospitals in Jordan. METHODS: All patients who were previously diagnosed with CKD by their physician were eligible for inclusion in the study. Recruited patients were fully assessed for treatment related problems (TRPs) by a clinical pharmacist. Pharmaceutical care service was assessed through a systematic, prospective before-after design. Chi Square test was used to investigate association between categorical variables. P value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Study outcomes included Process outcomes (prevalence and nature of identified TRPs, clinical significance of TRPs, associated diseases and drugs), General clinical outcomes (Therapeutic outcomes of TRPs) and CKD specific clinical outcomes (Change from baseline in the number of patients receiving appropriate progression modifying therapy and appropriate management of complications). RESULTS: 130 patients were included in the study. The average number of the identified TRPs was 5.31. Eighty-six percent of the recommendations were accepted by physicians. Efficacy related problems were the most common TRP category. Seventeen percent of all TRPs were resolved, 5.5 % were improved, and 37.4 % were prevented through the clinical pharmacist interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The current study indicated that hospitalized patients with CKD suffer from multiple TRPs mostly related to efficacy of medications and patients monitoring. Clinical pharmacists substantially contributed towards the care of hospitalized CKD patients through optimizing progression modifying therapies, medications safety and management of CKD complications. Based on this study it is strongly recommended to implement pharmaceutical care services for hospitalized CKD patients.