Impact of Clinical Pharmacist in Evaluating Drug–Drug Interactions in Outpatients of a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study

Abstract

Background: In patients receiving multi-drug therapy, drug–drug interactions (DDIs) are of extensive concern. The term drug–drug interaction is used when the effect of one drug is altered by the concomitant use of another drug. Aim: To analyze the impact of clinical pharmacist in evaluating drug–drug interactions in outpatients of a tertiary care hospital in various departments in a tertiary care hospital. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of drug–drug interactions and severity of DDIs. Material and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted for a period of 6 months from July 2019 to December 2019. The medications in the patient profile forms were then entered into the Excel sheet. The DDIs were classified based on the number of drug interactions, number of prescriptions, severity, mechanism of actions and different variables related to Drug Interaction were also determined. Results: From 126 patients, 69% males were more prone to DDIs than females that are 30.9%. Majority of the patients belongs >65 years of age (34.9%). A total of 126 prescriptions were analyzed of which 550 prescriptions had DDIs. Most of the DDIs were pharmacodynamic (50.7%) followed by pharmacokinetic (30.9%) and unknown (18.2%). A severity assessment showed that majority of the DDIs were moderate (27.7%) followed by major (20.6%), minor (41.2%) unknown (10.3%). Based on the different variables, comorbid conditions and total number of drugs prescribed were statistically significant with DDIs. Conclusion: The chances of occurrence of drug–drug interactions are more prevalent in the current hospital settings. Our study helped to understand the most prone age group, common mechanisms and severity and different variables that affect the patient’s disease condition.

Keywords: Drug–drug interactions (DDIs), multidrug therapy, prevalence, clinical pharmacist, cross-sectional

Cite this Article

Sushma Muchukota, Gavini Siva Bharat, E. Bhavya, Babu Muchukota, Jai Divya Tella. Impact of Clinical Pharmacist in Evaluating Drug–Drug Interactions in Outpatients of a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study. Trends in Drug Delivery. 2020; 7(1): 10–16p.