With the increase in number of patients, multiple diseases and complex therapeutic regimen the chances of drug\ninteraction is widening. Poly pharmacy is an unavoidable condition with age, leading to elevated healthcare costs, morbidity and\nmortality. A prospective observational study was conducted in outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital for a period of 4\nmonths. Potential drug-drug interactions per prescriptions and their clinical effects were evaluated. A total of 300 prescriptions\nof all age groups ranging from 1 to 75 years satisfying the inclusion criteria were collected. The complete past medical and\nmedication history of the patients were collected in the patient data collection form designed especially for the study. The most\ncommon exposure to various drug combinations were observed with prescriptions on medications for high blood pressure and\ncardiovascular drugs (62%), antibiotics (46%), antacids (47%), psychotropics (37%) and hypo-cholestrolemia drugs (20%).\nSome of the idiosyncratic reactions observed under the study were depression, insomnia, confusion, anxiety. A total of 840\npotential drug-drug interactions were detected in 300 total collected prescriptions, NSAIDS, �²-blockers, diuretics, statins are the\nmain class of drugs mostly interacted in the study. This was common in patients between 45-75 age groups. Out of this many\ndrug-drug interactions approximately 60% were pharmacodynamics and 40% were pharmacokinetic interactions. All health\ncare providers especially the clinical pharmacist must be able to assess, classify drug-drug interactions, recognize how to\nmanage, monitor and notifying them to prescriber about the potential reactions which could decrease the harmful effects and\nensure patient safety.
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