Table 2 Pharmacist interventions for cancer patients who used opioids
n | (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Number of opioid-using cancer patients | |||
Median | 10 | ||
[Range] | [1–300] | ||
Percentage of opioid-using cancer patients prescribed six or more regular medications | |||
Zero | 26 | (7.2) | |
1 to 39% | 77 | (21.4) | |
40 to 69% | 147 | (40.9) | |
70 to 99% | 80 | (22.3) | |
100% | 22 | (6.1) | |
No response | 7 | (1.9) | |
Percentage of inappropriate prescriptions in opioid-using cancer patients prescribed six or more regular medications | |||
Zero | 88 | (24.5) | |
1 to 39% | 231 | (64.3) | |
40 to 69% | 29 | (8.1) | |
70 to 99% | 2 | (0.6) | |
100% | 0 | (0) | |
Reasons for inappropriate prescriptions (multiple answers from options) | |||
Long-term administration of irresponsible or aimless medications | 229 | (63.8) | |
Adverse drug reactions caused by medications | 86 | (24.0) | |
Medications-mediated duplication of the pharmacological effect | 78 | (21.7) | |
Medication-induced drug-drug interactions | 46 | (12.8) | |
Other | 24 | (6.7) | |
Percentage of patients on polypharmacy with drug reduction due to pharmacist recommendations | |||
Zero | 87 | (24.2) | |
1 to 39% | 168 | (46.8) | |
40 to 69% | 43 | (12.0) | |
70 to 99% | 18 | (5.0) | |
100% | 23 | (6.4) | |
No response | 20 | (5.6) | |
Reasons for pharmacist recommendations to reduce medications (multiple answers from options) | |||
Long-term administration of irresponsible or aimless medications | 211 | (58.8) | |
Adverse drug reactions caused by medications | 138 | (38.4) | |
Change from oral to other dosage form due to oral feeding difficulty | 126 | (35.1) | |
Medications-mediated duplication of the pharmacological effect | 89 | (24.8) | |
Medication-induced drug-drug interactions | 57 | (15.9) | |
Other | 18 | (5.0) | |
Average number of medications reduced by pharmacist recommendations | |||
0 | 55 | (15.3) | |
1 | 154 | (42.9) | |
2 | 81 | (22.6) | |
3 | 18 | (5.0) | |
4 | 1 | (0.3) | |
More than 4 | 4 | (1.1) | |