薬理と治療

Abstract

Background　Many elderly patients take numerous medicines for their various ailments. Suspending the administration of unnecessary medicines and potentially inappropriate medications to elderly patients will lead to prescription optimization. It was previously reported that a template used at Tokyo University Hospital for evaluating medicines that patients bring to the hospital（the template）was a useful screening tool for prescription optimization in general hospitals. However, the hospitalization periods are short in the general ward, so pharmacists were unable to adequately adjust prescriptions. Methods　The template was used to screen patients ＞65 years old who were admitted to the convalescence rehabilitation at 4 hospitals in Fukuoka Prefecture. All patients received pharmaceutical care in the hospital from the pharmacists who also provided prescription support to the doctors. Results 　Using the template, 183 patients were considered applicable for pharmacistʼs review （Group 1）, while 83 patients were non-applicable（Group 2）. On admission, the average number of prescriptions was 8.2 in Group 1, which was significantly higher than the number in Group 2（3.7）. A total of 117 of the 266 study patients discontinued prescription after a discussion and review of their prescription with pharmacists and physicians; 91 of these were patients in Group 1. The most common type of medication discontinued was antipyretic analgesic in both groups. Conclusions　The results suggest that the template was a useful screening tool for prescription optimization in convalescent rehabilitation hospitals, and that pharmaceutical intervention during hospitalization might have contributed to the optimization of prescriptions for elderly patients.