Drug-drug interactions became a common problem at present. The alteration in the effect of one drug as a result of co-administration of another drug is called a drug-drug interaction. The prescriber should be aware of potential interactions while prescribing more than one drug to a patient because the consequences of drug-drug interactions may often lead to drug related morbidity and mortality. In our study, we aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of drug-drug interactions. This was a retrospective study carried out for a period of six months. Case records of all the in-patients from the medical records department were included and the outpatients were excluded from the study. All the collected cases were subjected to check for the interactions by using medscape multi drug interaction checker and were categorized based on the severity of the interaction into minor, significant and serious. Out of 490 cases collected, a total of 342 cases were observed with possible drug-drug interactions. Among the 342 cases, a total of 1433 possible drug-drug interactions were observed. Out of these 1433 possible drug-drug interactions, 92 (6.5%) were found to be serious, 960 (66.9%) were found to be significant and 381 (26.6%) were found to be minor drug-drug interactions. Among the total cases observed with possible drug-drug interactions, 195 (57%) were found to be male and 147(43%) were found to be female. In our study, the prevalence of patients with drug-drug interactions was found to be 0.69 (69%). Although there are a large number of studies delineating the potential drug-drug interactions in India, there is still no evidence of the proper management of clinical effects of those DDIs. Despite this high prevalence of DDIs in in-patients there are solely restricted studies aimed towards reducing the prevalence of these DDIs. Finally more extensive research is required to identify and minimize the factors associated with the occurrence of DDIs and to evaluate and manage the effects of interventions, thus recommending the distinguished role of a clinical pharmacist in this modern health care system.
Loading....