Investigation of drug-related problems on outpatient prescriptions in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at Nam Can Tho University Hospital in 2024

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with drug-related problems (DRPs) in outpatient prescriptions for elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 356 prescriptions randomly selected from a total of 3421 outpatient prescriptions at Nam Can Tho University Hospital in 2024. DRPs were identified and classified based on the coding system issued by the Ministry of Health. DRPs were detected in 92.42% of prescriptions. The most common type was drug–drug interactions (72.47%), reflecting the high prevalence of polypharmacy and multimorbidity in elderly patients. DRPs related to dosing and administration instructions were also significant, particularly unclear dosage instructions (14.61%) and inappropriate timing of administration (11.80%). Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of comorbidities and the number of medications per prescription were significantly associated with the occurrence of DRPs (p < 0.01), whereas gender (p = 0.806) and age (p = 0.091) were not statistically significant. DRPs are highly prevalent in prescriptions for elderly type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, especially drug–drug interactions, underscoring the critical need for clinical pharmacist oversight and intervention.