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Drug use in the hospital: Evaluation of determinants
Author(s) -
May Franklin E.,
Stewart Ronald B.,
Cluff Leighton E.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt1974165part1834
Subject(s) - medicine , drug , tranquilizer , formulary , pharmacy , medical prescription , analgesic , pharmacology , emergency medicine , family medicine
Factors influencing drug utilization were studied in 7,575 hospitalized patients on a 65 bed general medical service during a 3½ year period. Nine index drug groups, including analgesic, antacid, antiarrhythmic, antimicrobic, anticoagulant, antihypertensive, anti‐inflammatory, diuretic, and sedative‐tranqUilizer drugs were used to evaluate drug utilization. The average number of drugs received by each patient was 8.04, and the average patient drug exposure for the 9 index drug groups was 4.75. The average patient drug exposure to index therapeutic drug groups was found to be significantly higher during the February‐March and April‐May periods than during the August‐September and December‐January periods of the study. Factors found to have a significant influence on drug use included the formulary system and changes in the availability of drugs. Distribution of a drug letter published by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee did not appear to affect drug prescribing.