1. Aim: To determine the issues faced with accurate medication history takings for oncology patients who have been transferred from a different treatment site.
Background: Majority of the anticancer agents have a steep dose response relationship and a narrow therapeutic index. A small variation in the administered dose can lead to severe life-threatening toxicity in some individuals and underdosing in others, compromising cancer outcomes. Particularly in individuals with potentially curable diseases, and in the setting of adjuvant treatment (e.g., breast and colon cancer), proper dose selection is of great importance. This highlights the importance of an up-to-date treatment history relating to all chemotherapy medications, doses and treatment dates. However, it can sometimes be difficult to obtain an accurate history taking for patients who have been transferred from another site.
Methods: 5 newly transferred patients were identified over the three months in the cancer institute. The oncology pharmacist conducts a treatment history as per checklist prior to patient’s initial visit by ringing the previous centre(s)/pharmacy. The previous treating doctor may also be contacted if any treatment-related questions arose. On the day of treatment, any oral chemotherapy dosing were also confirmed with the patient. This list was then compared with available documents.
Differences in dosing as well as treatment cycles were considered medication discrepancies.
Results: Please note that this is still ongoing. Results will be out in August’2019.
Conclusion: