Chronic hemodialysis patients. Part I: Characterization and drug-related problems.

OBJECTIVE: To describe medication use in hemodialysis patients and to characterize the potential drug-related problems that may occur in this population.
DESIGN: All patients being dialyzed during the study period who were responsible for taking their own medications and who were able to provide an accurate medication history were included in this study. A pharmacist administered a structured medication history and drug therapy review protocol known as the Focused Drug Therapy Review Program to identify potential drug-related problems. This process was modified for a hemodialysis population.
SETTING: Outpatient hemodialysis unit at a university-affiliated hospital.
RESULTS: Thirty patients with endstage renal disease requiring hemodialysis were enrolled in the study. On average, 10 prescription and 2 prescribed nonprescription medications were used per patient. The incidence of potential adverse effects and medication allergies or intolerances averaged 5.5 and 2.2 per patient, respectively. Twenty patients (67 percent) reported missing an average of 3.4 (range 1-11) doses of medication per month. A total of 216 potential drug-related problems (encompassing both prescribing choices and patient behaviors) were identified by the pharmacist; the categories of drug selection and medication compliance contained the greatest number of potential problems (24 and 23 percent, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Hemodialysis patients use a large number of medications, which increases the risk for adverse reactions and other drug-related problems. The types of potential drug-related problems identified are amenable to pharmacist input. Thus, such patients should be targeted for clinical pharmacy intervention.