Profile of pharmaceutical interventions in a hospital specializing in Palliative Care

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Palliative care aims to improve the life quality of patients with serious illness and their families. At the hospital, the pharmacist provides pharmaceutical care by identifying the problem and producing Pharmaceutical Interventions (PI) to enhance treatments. OBJECTIVE: Describe the pharmaceutical experience through PI analyses and correlate variables to observe aspects of causality, tendencies, dependence, or impact. METHOD: The research employed secondary databases from “Diretoria de Assistência Farmacêutica” (DIASF) with PI registered between 2019 and 2023, at a reference hospital. The PI were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation, applying Pearson’s chi-squared test and evaluating p < 0.05 as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 778 PI were analyzed, showing an increase of more than 50% in the number of interventions between 2020 and 2021. The age distribution was 45 to 80 years (Ward A) and 75 to 90 years (Ward C). The medical team was the most contacted and the drugs most involved with PI were: morphine, haloperidol, and domperidone. Among the primary problems, the major ones were related to prescriptions and dispensations. When correlating primary problems with the adherence rate, the result was x² = 54.169 and p = 4.51 × 10⁻⁸. The primary strategy with the highest frequency was “prescription alterations” and by correlating it with the adherence rate, the result was x² = 35.24 and p = 0.0001. The adherence rates were 90% (Ward A) and 89% (Ward C). When comparing problems and strategies, the outcomes were x² = 524.69 and p = 5.82 × 10⁻⁹⁵. CONCLUSION: The study's emphasis was on the PI in palliative care, with an adherence rate of 90% for interventions. Problems related to prescriptions were the most common, reinforcing the essential role of pharmacists in patient safety and quality of life. Future research must create indicators to monitor impacts of interventions.