Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) Drug-Related Problems Classification Version 9.1: First Implementation in Sudan

Background: Clinical pharmacy services are an emerging specialty in Sudan. Many tools exist to document drug-related problems (DRP), such as the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) classification. However, none has been attempted and published in Sudan.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the DRP and its characteristics in real hospital setting using non-modified version of PCNE.

Method: Prospective study of clinical pharmacists' interventions during the routine care work of reviewing patients over a period from December 2020 to February 2021 at the wards of National Cancer Institute, University of Gezira, Sudan. Main outcome measure Using non-modified PCNE version 9.1 to identify the number, types, causes of the DRP, clinical pharmacists' interventions, acceptance, and outcomes.

Results: Five minutes (range, 3-15 minutes) was the median time spent for evaluation and intervention by the clinical pharmacists, a total of 51 DRP were discovered among 40 patients with an average of 1.3 DRP per patient, an adverse drug event (possibly) occurring (29.4%) was the main problem, no or incomplete drug treatment (27.5%) was the main causes, above one-third of the clinical pharmacists' interventions were proposed to the prescriber, these interventions were accepted in 96% and fully implemented among 72.5% of the cases. At the end of the process, the majority of DRP (72.5%) were totally solved.

Conclusion: Non-modified PCNE version 9.1 provides a suitable tool for the DRP process for Sudanese clinical pharmacists during routine work in the oncology setting. It hence can be considered as an optimal tool for further quality and policymaking.