Public Hospital Pharmacists' Perceptions and Knowledge of Antibiotic Use and Resistance: A Multicenter Survey.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) has been implemented in major public hospitals in Malaysia, with pharmacists playing a key role in ensuring the appropriate use of antibiotics. This survey aimed to assess the practices, perceptions, and knowledge of public hospital pharmacists on antibiotic use and resistance. A cross-sectional survey involving pharmacists from six public hospitals in Penang was conducted using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The majority of pharmacists perceived that polypharmacy (92%, n = 270) and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics (85%, n = 252) can potentially induce resistance of microorganisms and that ensuring the rational use of antibiotics is a shared responsibility between clinicians and pharmacists (94%, n = 278). A large majority of the pharmacists think that formal training in infectious disease should be a pre-requisite for pharmacists in ASP (93%, n = 273). In terms of antibiotic selection, the availability of antibiotics in hospital (81%, n = 234) and patient's clinical condition (68%, n = 196) are more of a concern to the pharmacists. A total of 65% of the respondents (n = 192) demonstrated good levels of knowledge with a mean knowledge score of 10.1 out of 13 (95% CI: 9.95; 10.31). Pharmacists from the managerial level, ward pharmacy, in-patient, and medication therapy adherence clinic (MTAC) unit had better knowledge of antibiotics compared to pharmacists from other units (p < 0.001). Antibiotic knowledge gap had been identified among pharmacists in different work settings, and longer years of service does not warrant good antibiotic knowledge.

Contributing factors to outpatient pharmacy near miss errors: a Malaysian prospective multi-center study.

Background Detecting errors before medication dispensed or 'near misses' is a crucial step to combat the incidence of dispensing error. Despite this, no published evidence available in Malaysia relating to these issues. Objective To determine the incidence of medication labeling and filling errors, frequency of each type of the errors and frequency of the contributing factors at the final stage before dispensing. Setting Six Penang public funded hospitals outpatient pharmacies. Methods A prospective multicentre study, over 8 week's period. Pharmacists identified and recorded the details of either medication labeling and/or filling error at the final stage of counter-checking before dispensing. Besides, the contributing factors for each error were determined and recorded in data collection form. Descriptive analysis was used to explain the study data. Main outcome measure The incidence of near misses. Results A total of 187 errors (near misses) detected, with 59.4% (n = 111) were medication filling errors and 40.6% (n = 76) were labeling errors. Wrong drug (n = 44, 39.6%) was identified as the highest type of filling errors while incorrect dose (n = 34, 44.7%) was identified as the highest type of labeling errors. Distracted and interrupted work environment was reported to lead the highest labeling and filling errors, followed by lack of knowledge and skills for filling errors and high workload for labeling errors. Conclusion The occurrence of near misses related to medication filling and labelling errors is substantial at outpatient pharmacy in Penang public funded hospitals. Further research is warranted to evaluate the intervention strategies needed to reduce the near misses.

Cefepime-associated thrombocytopenia in a critically ill patient.

CASE: Cefepime-induced thrombocytopenia is a rare adverse event (incidence <1.0%), based on data from clinical trials. However, there is limited post-marketing surveillance documentation on thrombocytopenia associated with cefepime. We describe a 45-year-old male who was admitted to the intensive care unit after allegedly being hit by a large metal bar in the right upper chest and shoulder. Rhabdomyolysis secondary to the trauma, pneumothorax, acute renal failure, and nosocomial sepsis were subsequently diagnosed. Four days after intravenous cefepime initiation, the patient developed thrombocytopenia with platelet count dropping from 102 × 10(3)/µL to 15 × 10(3)/µL. Cefepime was discontinued and the platelet count normalized to 140 × 10(3)/µL after 6 days. Use of the Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale indicated a possible relationship between the patient's thrombocytopenia and cefepime therapy. CONCLUSION: Although cefepime-induced thrombocytopenia is rare, clinicians should be alert to this potential adverse effect among critically ill patients.