A Study of the Possible Drug-Drug Interactions in Medicine Unit of A Tertiary Care Hospital

An interaction is said to occur when the effects of one drug are altered by the co-administration of another drug, herbal medicine, food, drink or other environmental chemical agents. This study was designed to analyze the possible drug-drug interactions in the medicine department of a tertiary care hospital. A prospective study was conducted on inpatients admitted to the medicine department of a tertiary care hospital for a period of 6 months. The patient demographics, diagnosis and drugs prescribed were recorded and presence of possible drug-drug interactions were detected using standard databases. Out of 60 cases collected, 36(60%) and 24(40%) were men and women respectively, where interactions were seen in 47% of male patients and 50% of female patients. A total of 682 drugs were prescribed at an average of 11 drugs per prescription. A total of 665 possible interactions were reported. Major interactions were 36 (5%) and moderate interactions were 550 (83%). Aspirin had the highest number of interactions with involvement in 65 types of moderate and 6 types major interactions. As per the study, among the top 5 drug combinations involved in drug-drug interactions, Aspirin+ Insulin combination was found to have the highest prevalence (36%). The study observed increased number of possible interactions with increase in number of drugs/prescriptions. This study reported a total of 665 interactions. Aspirin was involved in most of the drug interactions. Aspirin and Enoxaparin was the most frequent interacting drugs.