Assessment of Probable Drug-Drug Interactions in IPD Geriatric Patients at Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Background

Older adults are at a higher risk of experiencing drug-drug interactions due to their tendency to use several medications simultaneously, which may include prescription medications, over-the-counter products and dietary supplements. The presence of polypharmacy among older adults complicates treatment, raises healthcare costs and poses challenges for healthcare organizations. This systematic review explores how pharmacist-led interventions can effectively address and reduce polypharmacy, considering the changing responsibilities of pharmacists in patient care.

Materials and Methods

The research was a prospective observational study conducted over a period of six months, focusing on inpatients at Vivekananda General Hospital. Micromedex was employed to evaluate drug-drug interactions.

Results

In this research, 200 elderly people were examined, in which 109 were males and 91 were females. The participants in the study were 69.5 (±5.0) years old on average. In the general population, 191 (95.5%) Comorbidities among the individuals were reported. The most prevalent chronic diseases were hypertension (53.4%), Next in line is type 2 diabetes (31.3%) and hypothyroidism was the least common condition (1.6%). The subjects were analysed for DDI’S using Micromedex, among which 132 (66%) patients were observed with 154 Drug-Drug Interactions. Majority were found in female 82 (62.12%) followed by 50 (37.87%) males. Based on severity, the discovered DDIs were divided into three categories: severe, moderate and small. Among 154 drug-drug interactions identified, 89 (57.79%) were discovered to be major, 36 (23.37%) were identified to be moderate and 7 (4.54%) were determined to be minors.

Conclusion

Our research underscores the significance of managing drug-drug interactions in elderly patients. It is crucial to provide targeted care to this population to prevent these interactions, particularly given the prevalence of comorbidities, polypharmacy and low health literacy.