title: Development of a classification system for drug-related problems in the hospital setting (APS-Doc) and assessment of the inter-rater reliability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identifying, preventing and resolving drug-related problems (DRP) is an important issue in the pharmaceutical care process. Because DRPs have been detected in a more systematic way, the need for a classification system to document, classify and evaluate the collected data has become necessary. The objective was to develop a classification system for DRPs within the hospital setting, to evaluate the practicality and to assess the inter-rater reliability.
  
  
  METHODS
  All DRPs defined in PI-Doc and PCNE, which are relevant in the hospital setting, were included. Further relevant DRPs identified in other projects in a hospital setting as well as DRPs from the daily work on the ward were collected, and a short description of each DRP was written. A prospective study was conducted at Klinikum Fulda, Germany, in both a non-surgical and a surgical setting to explore whether the new classification system is suitable to classify DRPs in clinics with different specifications. For assessing the inter-rater reliability, 24 standardized case reports were provided. All participants classified them independently. The inter-rater reliability was analysed using Kappa coefficient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A classification system for DRPs in the hospital setting (APS-Doc) was established with 10 main categories and 48 subcategories. Practicality was assessed in 250 patients in a non-surgical ward as well as in 100 patients in a surgical ward. The inter-rater agreement was 0·68 (95% CI, 0·66-0·69) for main categories, which comprises substantial agreement. Moderate agreement (κ = 0·58; 95% CI, 0·58-0·59) was demonstrated for the subcategories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A new hierarchical classification system for DRPs in the hospital setting has been developed. APS-Doc seems suitable for various parts of the medication process such as medication reconciliation and drug therapy within both non-surgical and surgical wards. Inter-rater reliability was found to be substantial in the main categories and moderate in the subcategories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Klinikum Fulda gAG, Fulda, Germany. carina.hohmann@klinikum-fulda.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Klotz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Radziwill
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000145:classification* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005858:Germany; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007397:Internship, Nonmedical; D059065:Medication Reconciliation; D010595:Pharmacists; D011361:Professional Competence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital