Drug-related problems (DRPs) are well known as a frequent
cause of morbidity, hospital admission and mortality. A
systematic review conducted in 2002 found that 7.1 % of
hospital admissions resulted from DRPs,l while the Second
National Report on Patient Safety reported in 2003 that
2-4% of all hospital admissions in Australia (and up to
30% of admissions for patients over 75 years of age) were
medication-related, Seventy-five percent of these DRPs were
considered preventable.' DRPs that cause hospitalisation are
likely to have originated during the course of the patient's
community-based care; however, many occur in the community
setting and donot result in presentation to a hospital.
Pharmacists are frequently involved in preventing, detecting
and resolving DRPs during the course of their activities.
This DRP detection and resolution process can be termed a
clinical intervention. Although studies have been conducted in
North America3·9 and Europe.":" there is far less information
available concerning the nature and frequency of community
pharmacists' clinical interventions in Australia