Assessment of potential drug-drug interactions at hospital discharge

Abstract

A computerised drug-drug interaction program (detection) together with clinical pharmacological experience (interpretation/evaluation) can be useful for decreasing the number of potentially harmful drug combinations. This approach may lead to an improvement in the quality of prescription, reducing possible risks and thus contributing to patient safety.

Prevalence and Pattern of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in the Critical Care Units of a Tertiary Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt

“…These findings were comparable with those reportd in several studies [4][5][6]13,14,28,31]. Logistic regression analysis for the possible risk factors of DDIs among patients admitted to the CCUs in the present work showed that the age of patient and the number of prescribed drugs were the only significant factors.…”

“…Logistic regression analysis for the possible risk factors of DDIs among patients admitted to the CCUs in the present work showed that the age of patient and the number of prescribed drugs were the only significant factors. These findings were in accordance with other studies which showed that both variables were indeed two of the major, if not the most important, risk factors for DDIs [6,14,[27][28][29]. Other risk factors for the occurrence of DDIs identified by other studies included sex [27] and length of hospital stay [4,6].…”

“…This finding was comparable with those reported in other studies [5,27]. Higher rates were reported from Brazil in 2008 [14] and 2011 [4] and from Switzerland in 2010 [28], while lower rates were reported from Canada in 2007 [29] and Egypt in 2009 [18]. One important reason for discrepancies among studies is different classification and inclusion/exclusion of potential DDIs.…”

“…Much lower rate was reported by Bertolia et al (2010) [28]. About half of the potential DDIs in the present work had a moderate severity of action.…”

Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions at Ayder Referral Hospital, Northern Ethiopia

“…A number of studies conducted at different part of the globe [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] showed that the prevalence of drug-drug interaction as well as its clinical significance (severity of interaction) varies from place to place depending on the presence of alternative drugs, variation in disease epidemiology and composition and level of health care professionals.…”