Development and validation of the Slovenian drug-related problem classification system based on the PCNE classification V 6.2

Background Classifying drug-related problems increases pharmacists’ awareness of patients’ drug-related needs and supports the development of counselling skills through increased awareness of the nature and frequency of drug-related problems. No standardised classification system was used in daily pharmacy practice in Slovenia. Objective To translate, upgrade and validate the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) classification V 6.2 for use in Slovenian community pharmacies. Setting Expert panel meetings at the Faculty of Pharmacy and home-based classification validation. Methods The PCNE classification V 6.2 was translated to Slovenian language by forward–backward translation procedure. An expert panel consisting of nine practicing pharmacists upgraded the content of the translated version. Thirty-one community pharmacists validated this version with the PCNE set of 18 patient cases by coding problems, risk factors and interventions they believed were present in each case. The expert panel discussed the results and upgraded the classification accordingly. Afterwards, 33 community pharmacists validated the upgraded version with a set of 40 actual Slovenian pharmacy patient cases. Based on the results, the expert panel formed a final version of the classification. Main outcome measure Coding consistency between community pharmacists. Results The expert panel performed some major modifications to the PCNE classification V 6.2: the potential problem was added as a sub domain to problems domain; the term adverse drug event was used instead of adverse drug reaction; the causes domain was renamed to risk factors and its sub domains were organized into prescribing, dispensing and use of drugs; dispensing errors were specified; use of drugs was organized into intentional and unintentional use of drugs; the sub domains in the interventions domain were divided according to the communication and agreement with the prescriber. The average coding consistencies in the first validation study were 75 % (±16 %) for problems, 74 % (±20 %) for risk factors and 94 % (±10 %) for interventions. The average coding consistencies in the second validation study were 83 % (±16 %) for problems, 85 % (±17 %) for risk factors and 80 % (±20 %) for interventions. Conclusion A drug-related problem classification for use in Slovenian community pharmacies was developed based on The PCNE classification V 6.2. The validation studies demonstrated high coding consistencies.