Identification and Resolution of Drug-related Problems Encountered by Individuals with Epilepsy in Nigeria

Objective: Interventions by clinical pharmacists are required to identify and resolve medication-related problems. This study aimed to identify drug-related problems (DRPs) encountered by patients with epilepsy, provide pharmaceutical care (PC) interventions, and evaluate the impact of these clinical interventions. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 95 patients with epilepsy attending the neurology/medical outpatient clinics of two epilepsy referral centers. During patient clinic visits, the pharmacist collected medication history, reviewed patient medication use, identified DRPs, provided PC services, and collaborated with physicians and patients to resolve identified DRPs. Documentation and classification of identified DRPs, categorization of the pharmacists’ interventions, categorization of acceptance of the pharmacist’s intervention proposals, and categorization of the status of the DRPs after the interventions were performed using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe Classification Scheme for DRPs V8.02. Results: The total number of DRPs identified by the clinical pharmacists in the study population was 277. Three hundred and seventy-nine interventions were offered by the clinical pharmacists. Approximately 57.04% of the identified DRPs were patient-related, whereas 15.88% were dispensing-related. Approximately 64.12% of the research pharmacist’s interventions were at the patient level, whereas 24.01% of these interventions were at the prescriber level. Two hundred and eleven (55.67%) of the clinical pharmacist interventions were accepted and fully implemented. Approximately 61.73% of the identified DRPs were fully resolved. Conclusion: Most DRPs encountered were resolved following the acceptance of the clinical pharmacist’s PC interventions by the patients and attending physicians. This study revealed the huge potential of clinical pharmacists in providing specialized care for patients with epilepsy.