Impact of the Intervention of Pharmacists and Geriatrician on Drug Prescription in Elderly Patients in a Surgical ICU

In order to optimize drug prescription and to reduce potentially inappropriate medications, a pharmaceutical analysis activity is conducted in our establishment for several years. Medical prescriptions are reviewed daily by pharmacists. This activity is developed in approximatively 84% of the hospital wards of the institution, and especially in the geriatric department. Drug induced adverse effects are frequently encountered in elderly people and ICU environment causes a high risk of iatrogenic events because of the complexity of care and of the severity of illness. The hypothesis of the study is that the intervention of pharmacists and geriatricians could improve the medical prescription in elderly patients by reducing avoidable drug interactions and thus by decreasing the risk of drug induced adverse effects.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the intervention of pharmacists and geriatricians on medical prescription and on iatrogenic risk in elderly critically ill patients admitted in surgical ICU. The secondary objectives are (i) to describe the elderly patients population in surgical ICU, (ii) to analyze the impact of the ICU stay on medical prescription, (iii) to analyze the opportunities suggested by the pharmacists to optimize drug therapies and (iv) to assess the impact of drug prescription in the ICU on long-term disability.

A prospective, observational, before-after study will be conducted from august 1, 2018 to February 1, 2020, in the surgical ICU of the hospital. Patients older than 70 years and admitted to surgical ICU will be eligible. This study will be conducted in 2 successive steps: (1) first step: without any intervention of pharmacists or and geriatricians (Baseline), (2) second step: all drug prescription during the ICU and the hospital stay will be analyzed by a pharmacist and a geriatrician, to decrease drug interaction and risk of drug related adverse effect. During each step, the demographic and medical data will be recorded. Medical prescriptions will be reviewed at ICU admission, at 96 hours after ICU admission and then every 4 days until discharge from the ICU. For each patient, the impact of the intervention on mid-term and long-term disability will be assessed during a geriatric evaluation by using adequate specific scale at hospital discharge and at 3 months after hospital discharge. All iatrogenic events will be collected and analyzed.