BACKGROUND: A pharmacist's participation in medical rounds in intensive care unit (ICU) is becoming popular nowadays. In this study, we investigated the effect of pharmacologic intervention by a pharmacist's participation in medical round in ICU on prevention of adverse drug events (ADEs). METHODS: From March 2011 to July 2011, the intervention data were obtained by participating in medical round two or three times a week, and by reviewing electronic medical records of patients admitted to surgical ICU. The incidence, cause, and type of ADEs were noted, respectively. Expected cost avoidance was calculated from interventions, which were considered to be preventive of ADEs. The acceptance rate of pharmacologic interventions was noted. RESULTS: Among 2781 patients, a total of 159 intervention data were collected in 90 patients. Recommendation for drug dosage adjustment or monitoring in patients with potential overdose and sub-therapeutic dose made up 82% of the total interventions. In 8% of interventions, initiation of drug therapy was recommended. 83% of the interventions were accepted and the acceptance rate of interventions within 24 hrs was 58%. The rate of the interventions, which were considered to be preventive of ADEs was 62%. Expected cost reduction obtained by preventing ADEs was 25,867,083 Won during a 5-month period. CONCLUSIONS: A pharmacist's participation in physician rounds in ICU was associated with prevention of ADEs and subsequent reduction of the cost in drug therapy.
Drug Toxicity ; Electronic Health Records ; Humans ; Incidence ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Pharmacists

Objectives: In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we aimed to investigate the differences in brain activation between individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals during perspective taking. We also examined the association between brain activation and empathic and interoceptive abilities. Methods: During scanning, participants from the ASD (n=17) and TD (n=22) groups were shown pain stimuli and asked to rate the level of the observed pain from both self- and other-perspectives. Empathic abilities, including perspective taking, were measured using an empathic questionnaire, and three dimensions of interoception were assessed: interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and interoceptive trait prediction errors. Results: During self-perspective taking, the ASD group exhibited greater activation in the left precuneus than the TD group. During other-perspective taking, relative hyperactivation extended to areas including the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. Brain activation levels in the right superior frontal gyrus while taking other-perspective were negatively correlated with interoceptive accuracy, and those in the left caudate were negatively correlated with perspective taking ability in the ASD group. Conclusion Individuals with ASD show atypical brain activation during perspective taking. Notably, their brain regions associated with stress reactions and escape responses are overactivated when taking other-perspective. This overactivity is related to poor interoceptive accuracy, suggesting that individuals with ASD may experience difficulties with the self-other distinction or atypical embodiment when considering another person’s perspective.