Frequency of polypharmacy and drug interactions in inpatients in the emergency department, Southwest of Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the polypharmacy extent and the frequency and severity of drug interactions by evaluating inpatients in the emergency department. In this epidemiologicaldescriptive study, data were collected retrospectively by reviewing medical records of 92 hospitalized patients in the emergency department with a stay over 48 hours. Out of the study population, 54.3% and 45.7% were respectively male and female, with a mean age of 59.09. In terms of hospitalization, 27.2% and 16.3% were hospitalized due to heart problems and trauma, respectively and the mean length of hospitalization was 3.91 with a standard deviation of 2.57 days. The mean drug received was 8.48, with a standard deviation of 4.48. Of the patients, 81.5% received more than 5 drugs; in addition, the observed amounts of drug interactions of A, B, C, D, and X were 2.5%, 17%, 59.3%, 19.5%, and 1.9%, respectively. The drug interaction prevalence in inpatients in the emergency department was high. The presence of a pharmacist is necessary to identify drug interactions and reduce drug-therapy problems to provide quality services.

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“…Among inpatients, a large proportion of them is treated with a multifaceted therapeutic approach due to multiple comorbid conditions, predisposing them to polypharmacy 5,6 . Most of the medications administered to stabilize the patients, such as antiarrhythmics, antipsychotics, antibiotics, and antihistamines, have the tendency to cause QTc prolongation, either as an adverse effect or through interaction with concomitantly administered medications.…”