Predefined categories of drug-related problems in pain therapy
| Category of drug-related problems | Control group (n/total; (%)*) | Medication management group (n/total; (%)*) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacotherapeutic drug-related problems | |||
| Non-opioid in inappropriate combination (eg, two different NSAIDs) | 14/406 (3)** | 18/407 (4)** | 0.475 |
| Opioid in inappropriate combination (eg, WHO-II with WHO-III opioid) | 139/240 (58)*** | 110/227 (49)*** | 0.041 |
| Opioid without non-opioid (although indicated) | 11/240 (5)*** | 16/227 (7)*** | 0.254 |
| Overdose (eg, exceeding dose limits of paracetamol) | 15/627 (2) | 8/654 (1) | 0.115 |
| Inappropriate administration instruction (eg, dosing interval differs from SmPC) | 14/627 (2) | 16/654 (2) | 0.800 |
| Missing or inappropriate supportive therapy (eg, missing laxatives) | 82/627 (13) | 70/654 (11) | 0.189 |
| Analgesic in inappropriate dosage form (eg, opioids with sustained release on demand or immediate release in fixed dose) | 13/627 (2) | 14/654 (2) | 0.933 |
| Analgesics in problematic ‘pain cocktails’ (eg, of tramadol, dipyrone and metoclopramide prescribed in a fixed but not specified way as ‘pain cocktail’) | 68/627 (11) | 42/654 (6) | 0.005 |
| Drug–drug interactions | 84/627 (13) | 96/654 (15) | 0.509 |
| Administrative drug-related problems | |||
| Duplicate prescriptions of analgesics | 32/627 (5) | 32/654 (5) | 0.863 |
| Prescription of analgesic with incomplete information concerning single dose | 165/627 (26) | 70/654 (11) | <0.001 |
| Prescription of analgesic with incomplete information concerning dosage instruction (eg, dosing interval) | 185/627 (30) | 126/654 (19) | <0.001 |
| Prescription of analgesic with incomplete information concerning daily dose | 204/627 (33) | 131/654 (20) | <0.001 |
| Prescription of analgesic with incomplete information concerning drug name or dosage form | 81/627 (13) | 47/654 (7) | <0.001 |
Based on the total number *) of all analgesic prescriptions, if not otherwise specified; **) of non-opioid analgesic prescriptions; ***) of opioid analgesic prescriptions.
NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SmPC, Summary of Product Characteristics.