title: Classification of drugs with different risk profiles.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A risk stratification approach is needed to identify patients at high risk of medication errors and a resulting high need of medication review. The aim of this study was to perform risk stratification (distinguishing between low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk drugs) for drugs found to cause serious adverse reactions due to medication errors. The study employed a modified Delphi technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drugs from a systematic literature search were included into two rounds of a Delphi process. A panel of experts was asked to evaluate each identified drug's potential for harm and for clinically relevant drug-drug interactions on a scale from 1 (low risk) to 9 (high risk).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 36 experts were appointed to serve on the panel. Consensus was reached for 29/57 (51%) drugs or drug classes that cause harm, and for 32/57 (56%) of the drugs or drug classes that cause interactions. For the remaining drugs, a decision was made based on the median score. Two lists, one stating the drugs' potential for causing harm and the other stating clinically relevant drug-drug interactions, were stratified into low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk drugs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on a modified Delphi technique, we created two lists of drugs stratified into a low-risk, a medium-risk and a high-risk group of clinically relevant interactions or risk of harm to patients. The lists could be incorporated into a risk-scoring tool that stratifies the performance of medication reviews according to patients' risk of experiencing adverse reactions.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  none.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  not relevant.
authors.affiliation: Klinisk Farmakologisk Afdeling, Aarhus Universitetshospital, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. ea@biomed.au.dk.
authors.forename: Eva Aggerholm
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Saedder
authors.forename: Birgitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.forename: Lars Peter
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Dorthe Krogsgaard
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bonnerup
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lisby
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D003697:Delphi Technique; D003718:Denmark; D004344:Drug Incompatibility; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000145:classification*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations