“Pharmacists’ Interventions to Reduce Sedative/Hypnotic Use for Insomnia in Hospitalized Patients”

ConclusionThis study suggests that the use of sedative/hypnotics in the inpatient units (excluding the critical care unit), is somewhat prevalent, and many patients may be on more than one sedative/hypnotic, which could potentially cause cumulative harm. During the intervention phase, 25% of the total in-hospital orders for sedative/hypnotics were discontinued following recommendations made by a pharmacist, and significantly lower number of patients receiving duplicate sedative/hypnotics was noted. Further efforts should be implemented to avoid unnecessary sedative/hypnotic initiation in hospitalized patients, and to ensure monitoring by pharmacists is optimized.
Source: Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research