Assessment of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions Among Patients Visiting Community Pharmacies

OBJECTIVES:

• To assess the nature and the frequency of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) among the patients visiting community pharmacies.

• To determine the prevalence of pDDIs among patients visiting community pharmacies.
• To document the mechanism, risk rating, severity and consequences of the identified pDDIs.
• To monitor and manage the identified pDDIs.

METHODS: The study was carried out in various community pharmacies of mysuru . It's a Prospective Interventional study carried out for a period of six months.

RESULTS: A total of 300 prescriptions dispensed in three community pharmacies were reviewed in the study period of 6 months. The study found a 24.9% prevalence of pDDIs in the 300 prescriptions examined. A total of 296 pDDIs were found and analyzed. Our study severity assessment revealed that the majority of interactions were moderate, followed by minor and major interactions. Polypharmacy may be a cause of pDDIs. The patients used an average of 3-4 medicines. Our study gender distribution revealed that men are more likely than women to have pDDIs. Approximately 97 pDDIs (32.77%) were intervened, and suitable management strategies were recommended to physicians and community pharmacists. Anti-Hypertensives, Anti-Diabetics, Anti-Histamines, Antibiotics and Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) were involved in the majority of pDDIs.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study concluded that pDDIs are quite prevalent in prescriptions filled in community pharmacy. Use of multiple drugs (Polypharmacy) is the major cause of pDDIs. The most identified pDDIs were Moderate (72.4%) severity. The study highlights the need for future community pharmacies to properly monitor the pDDIs.