The therapeutic monitoring of medications is a growing field in biochemistry and pharmacology. It involves the testing and evaluations of particular dosages of a selected drug's effectiveness. Also referred to as TDM, therapeutic drug monitoring measures the amount of a drug in a patient's blood stream and adjusts this concentration to assess the dosage's effect on a patient population. While TDM is beneficial in calculating successful dosages, drawbacks with testing include methodology issues, degree of accuracy, financial feasibility and interference with patient comfort.
Methodology
The methodology involved in therapeutic drug monitoring is difficult because of the many variables that must be taken into account. These include the time the medication was taken, a patient's biochemistry, how the drug was stored and handled and the precision of workers in collecting the data. However, specialists in the field have adopted stringent guidelines that make it possible to conduct the monitoring with controls that improve methodology. This makes it possible in many cases for researchers to determine the narrow therapeutic range of the effectiveness of medication.
Accuracy
While pharmacologists and biochemists are often successful in determining the effective range of drug's medical use by therapeutic monitoring, several factors can determine the degree of accuracy attained. Many considerations exist, including time of collection which, according to Lab Tests Online, is critical for obtaining accurate results. Other important issues are identification of factors that interfere with outcomes and the individual interpretation of results. For these reasons, it is important that testing is repeated and analyzed by multiple persons during the process to ensure accuracy so patients are treated appropriately and can achieve the best possible outcomes.
Patient Considerations
A patient's compliance and comfort are essential considerations in therapeutic drug monitoring. You need the patient to agree to the monitoring before it can begin. Also, those doing the monitoring must keep in mind that the patients are human beings who must be made as comfortable as possible while they are used to make scientific determinations of correct dosages. A patient must be treated with respect and allowances have to be made in terms of his availability and the state of his health at particular intervals. TDM can be considered intrusive to patients so they must be educated regarding the importance of the monitoring for successful treatment of their health issues.
Costs
The monetary expense incurred with TDM is a controversial issue that causes many in the pharmacological industry to object to monitoring on a wide basis. According to the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists, only a few studies indicate the cost effectiveness of TDM with a particular class of drugs, mostly considering aminoglycosides. TDM can be costly because of its complexity and time considerations. The analysis update regarding TDM cost effectiveness conducted by EAHP concludes that while this issue is important, many other factors can promote the use of TDM and measures should be taken to make the process as cost-efficient as possible.
