Drug-related Problems Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Hypertension in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lebanon: A Cross-sectional Study

Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) often have other associated comorbidities, making them susceptible to drug-related problems (DRPs) which can adversely affect their quality of life. Understanding these problems can provide baseline data to allow informed health decisions and effective management of patients.

This study aims to investigate DRPs in T2D patients with hypertension and find the predictors of these problems.

This cross-sectional study was conducted for six months in the internal medicine department of a tertiary care hospital in Lebanon. Participants were 135 adult T2D patients with hypertension who were receiving one or more anti-diabetes drugs, and at least one medication for hypertension. Pharmaceutical care network europe classification system was used to classify the DRPs. Data were collected by two clinical pharmacists using a self-report tool.

Most of patients were female. Most of them (94.1%) had at least one DRP (1.43±0.72 per patient). “Non-optimal drug treatment effect” was the most frequent problem (48.2%). Achieving the HbA1C target reduced the odds of this problem by 66.6%, while the increased serum creatinine level caused a two-fold increase in this problem. The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers reduced the odds of DRPs by 86.2% and 83.3%, respectively, while lipid-lowering and anti-anginal drug use caused a four-fold increase in DRPs.

Early identification of DRPs in diabetic patients with hypertension and their associated factors can help improve their management and reduce the associated mortality and morbidity rates.