The prevalence of major potential drug-drug interactions at a University health centre pharmacy in Jamaica

Abstract

Objective:To identify major potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) on prescriptions filled at the University Health Centre Pharmacy, Mona Campus, Jamaica.Methods:This investigation utilised a cross-sectional analysis on all prescriptions with more than one drug that were filled at the Health Centre Pharmacy between November 2012 and February 2013. Potential DDIs were identified using the online Drug Interactions Checker database of Drugs.com.Results:During the period of the study, a total of 2814 prescriptions were analysed for potential DDIs. The prevalence of potential DDIs found during the study period was 49.82%. Major potential DDIs accounted for 4.7 % of the total number of interactions detected, while moderate potential DDIs and minor potential DDIs were 80.8 % and 14.5 % respectively. The three most frequently occurring major potential DDIs were amlodipine and simvastatin (n=46), amiloride and losartan (n=27) and amiloride and lisinopril (n=16).Conclusion:This study has highlighted the need for educational initiatives to ensure that physicians and pharmacists collaborate in an effort to minimise the risks to the patients. These interactions are avoidable for the most part, as the use of online tools can facilitate the selection of therapeutic alternatives or guide decisions for closer patient monitoring and thus reduce the risks of adverse events.

Effect of an educational intervention on the number potential drug-drug interactions

“…Our findings were significantly higher than those from the cardio-resuscitative Departments of the United States, where only the 20.5% of drug interactions are potentially dangerous when using an online checker Lexi-Interact and Micromedex interaction (Smithburger et al, 2012). Our data are comparable with those of Jamaica researchers, where the prevalence of potentially dangerous drug interactions in the University Medical Clinic was the 49.8%, when using an online checker Drug Interactions Checker database of Drugs.com (Kennedy-Dixon et al, 2015).…”

Interações medicamentosas potenciais em adultos e idosos na atenção primária

“…A prevalência de IMP em pacientes ambulatoriais relatada na literatura é de aproximadamente 50% 5 , podendo chegar a mais de 80% 6 . O número de medicamentos está associado à maior ocorrência de IMP [4][5][6] . Soma-se a esse achado o envelhecimento populacional, com o aumento do número de doenças crônicas e a necessidade de politerapia, estamos frente a um problema crescente de saúde pública.…”

The Prevalence of Selected Potential Drug-Drug Interactions of Analgesic Drugs and Possible Methods of Preventing Them: Lessons Learned From the Analysis of the Real-World National Database of 38 Million Citizens of Poland

“…A recent analysis of prescriptions issued to outpatients of a general hospital in China revealed that as many as 30.29% of them contained pDDI with C, D or X risk rating (of which category C stands for ‘monitor therapy,’ D – ‘consider therapy modification,’ and X – ‘avoid combination,’ respectively) ( Ren et al, 2020 ). Finally, among prescriptions filled at a university health center pharmacy in Jamaica, prevalence of pDDIs was 49.8% (of which 4.7% were classified as major, 80.8% as moderate and 14.5% as minor pDDIs) ( Kennedy-Dixon et al, 2015 ).…”