National record and analysis of pharmaceutical interventions in critical care units: PHARMACRITIC study.

Abstract

Objective: To design a homogeneous methodology for the registration and analysis of pharmaceutical interventions performed in Spanish critical adults' care units.

Method: Observational, prospective and multicenter study. In the first stage, a national registry of pharmaceutical interventions will be agreed upon and subsequently all the pharmaceutical interventions performed on adult patients admitted to Spanish CCUs during eight weeks will be recorded. Variables related to the type of CCU, the drug involved in the intervention, type of intervention (indication, effectiveness, safety), recommendation made by the pharmacist and the degree of acceptance will be evaluated. Risk and incidence will be calculated for each of the medication errors detected. The χ2-squared test or Fisher exact test will be used for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables. All tests will be performed with a significance level α = 0.05 and confidence intervals with confidence 1- α.

Discussion: The results obtained from this project will make it possible to obtain a homogeneous classification of the pharmaceutical interventions performed in CCU, a national record and an evaluation of the weak points with the aim of developing strategies for improvement in the pharmaceutical care of the critically ill patient.