Assessment of Drug Therapy Problems (DTPs) among hypertensive and diabetic patients attending Lagos Island general hospital, Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Drug Therapy Problems (DTPs) are of major concern in health care because of increased cost of
treatment, delayed therapeutic goals, morbidity, and mortality.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, associated factors, and resolution of drug therapy
problems among hypertensive and diabetic patients attending General Hospital, Lagos.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 234 systematic randomly selected case notes of diabetic and
hypertensive patients older than 18 years, and who had been on medications for more than a month. The data
collected was analysed using descriptive analysis and Chi square test. Statistical significance was determined at
p-value <0.05.

Results: Of the 234 case notes assessed, 182 (77.78%) had DTPs. The number of DTPs identified were 277. The
most common DTP identified was effect of drugs not optimal (27.8%). Neither socio-demographic factors,
polypharmacy or presence of comorbidities were associated with having Drug Therapy Problems (DTPs). The DTPs were either partially resolved (17.01%), fully resolved (14.29%), unresolved (22.4%), or with unknown outcomes (46.3%).

Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of DTPs at 77.78% with the most common DTP being effect of
drug not optimal. None of the studied variables, however, had significant association with the prevalence of
DTPs.

背景：药物治疗问题（Drug Therapy Problems, DTPs）是医疗保健领域的重要关注点，因其会导致治疗成本上升、治疗目标延迟达成、发病率及死亡率增加。

目的：本研究旨在评估拉各斯综合医院就诊的高血压与糖尿病患者中药物治疗问题的患病率（prevalence）、相关因素及解决情况。

方法：本研究为回顾性研究（retrospective study），系统随机选取了234份18岁以上、服药时间超过1个月的糖尿病及高血压患者病历。收集的数据采用描述性分析及卡方检验（Chi square test）进行分析，统计学显著性设定为p值<0.05。

结果：在评估的234份病历中，182例（77.78%）存在药物治疗问题（DTPs）。共识别出277个药物治疗问题，其中最常见类型为药物效果不佳（占27.8%）。社会人口学因素、多重用药（polypharmacy）或合并症的存在均与药物治疗问题（DTPs）无显著关联。药物治疗问题的转归情况如下：部分解决（17.01%）、完全解决（14.29%）、未解决（22.4%）及结局未知（46.3%）。

结论：本研究显示药物治疗问题的患病率较高，达77.78%，其中最常见类型为药物效果不佳。然而，所有研究变量均与药物治疗问题的患病率无显著关联。