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Background: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a common non-malignant urological condition in ageing male. This disease is usually managed by medication and as a result, patients with BPH are exposed to Drug Therapy
Problems (DTPs).

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and types of DTPs among elderly male with BPH in Nigeria.

Methods: A 10-year retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out among consecutively sampled elderly outpatients aged > 60 years with BPH at the Urology clinic of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Southwest, Nigeria. The Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe Classification was used to classify DTPs. The six primary domains of Problem including adverse reactions, drug choice problem, drug use problem, interactions were explored. Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) were assessed using the Medscape® drug interaction checkers software. Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact as appropriate was used to determine associations between the domains and patients’ clinical characteristics.

Results: A total of 201 medical records of participants, mean age 69.42 ± 7.36 years (R=60-91years) were evaluated, 35.8% had primary education and 29.9% had hypertension as comorbidity. Of the 120 DTPs (Mean ±SD; 0.6±0.2) identified among the participants, 55.8% involved DDIs, 16.7% drug choice problem and 15.0% drug use problem. Almost one-third of the DDIs (19/67; 28.4%) involved BPH medications. Co-morbidity was significantly associated with DDIs (p<0.001), drug choice problem (p<0.001) and drug use problem (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Drug therapy problems are rife among elderly patients with BPH. Drug interactions and drug choice problems, including medication non-adherence are more prevalent than other types of DTPs.

Keywords: Drug therapy problem, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Nigeria, Elderly, Drug use