Pharmacist advice on inappropriate direct oral anticoagulant prescribing accepted in four out of five cases

摘要

Pharmacist advice on inappropriate direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) prescribing was accepted by physicians in four out of five cases, according to a new study of hospitalised patients in Belgium. A total of 1,688 patients in a tertiary hospital in Brussels, all of whom had atrial fibrillation and were taking DOACs, were included in the study, which was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcp.15017) on 31 July 2021. When pharmacists looked at the appropriateness of their prescriptions, inappropriate DOAC prescribing was identified in 286 (16.9) of patients. Underdosing was more common than overdosing, with underdosing found in 9.7 of patients compared with 6.9 who were on too high a dose, the authors said.