Objective:
The aim of the present study was to assess the prev
alence, risk rating and the severity of hazardous p
DDIs (potential drug-drug
interactions) in the prescribed pharmacotherapy in
the hospital discharged heart failure (HF) patients,
primarily with co-administered drugs with
narrow therapeutic index (statins, anticoagulants,
antithrombotic drugs).
Methods:
The prescriptions of chronic heart failure patients
for one year (January-December 2014) were analyzed
for pDDIs through Lexi-interact
®
software. DDIs belonging to the categories D (Consi
der therapy modification) and X (Avoid combination)
and/or severity of drug interaction-major,
were selected for the study.
Results:
After reviewing the medical records of 985 patients
, 239 patients were selected based on the criteria
mentioned above. The average
number of prescription drugs at hospital discharge
was 7.27 medications (±1.84 SD) per patient. The to
tal number of pDDIs was 1483 or
approximately 6.2 (±3.89 SD) pDDIs per patient. Wit
h respect to the risk rating, in categories D and X
were detected 76 (5.12 %) and 2 (0.13 %)
pDDI, respectively. The major pDDIs were 108 (7.28
%).
Conclusion:
HF patients are at high risk of pDDIs. Screening of
prescriptions for pDDIs and monitoring of pharmacot
herapy in terms of response
and associated adverse drug events will contribute
to patient safety.