An Assessment of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in Hypertensive Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To an assessment of potential drug-drug interactions in hypertensive patients in a tertiary care hospital.
 Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Erode for a period of 8 mo. A sample of 480 patients was assessed for PDDIs using drug checker in Micromedex®-2.7.
 Results: A total of 430 patients were analyzed and it was found to be 396 (82.50%) hypertensive patients had PDDIs, and a sum total of 1160 PDDIs were observed. Potential drug-drug interactions (PDDIs) higher in female hypertensive patients [255 (64.39%)] compared to males. Incidences of PDDIs were found to be higher in the age group of 60-70 y were [177 (44.69%)] and incidences of interactions based on the duration of (4-6 d) hospital stays were 272 (68.68%). Moreover, 49.24% of patients were found to be prescribed with more than 7 drugs, with higher incidences of PDDIs. Some of the most common drug interacting pair was between aspirin and clopidogrel combination observed in 325 PDDIs in the major, with pharmacodynamics in nature.
 Conclusion: Clinical pharmacist ought to have the role of regular monitoring of drug therapy in identifying and preventing the medications that have the potential to cause drug-drug interactions, thereby minimizing the undesirable outcomes in drug medical care and improving the quality of care.