Prevalence of the prescription of potentially interacting drugs

The use of multiple medications is becoming more common, with a correspondingly increased risk of untoward effects and drug-related morbidity and mortality. We aimed at estimating the prevalence of prescription of relevant potentially interacting drugs and at evaluating possible predictors of potent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-10, Vol.8 (10), p.e78827
Main Authors: Tragni, Elena, Casula, Manuela, Pieri, Vasco, Favato, Giampiero, Marcobelli, Alberico, Trotta, Maria Giovanna, Catapano, Alberico Luigi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambulatory care
Anticoagulants
Clopidogrel
Data processing
Digoxin
Drug development
Drug interaction
Drug Interactions
Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data
Drugs
Epidemiology
Exposure
Female
Health aspects
Health care
Hospitals
Humans
Identification
Male
Males
Methotrexate
Middle Aged
Morbidity
Mortality
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Omeprazole
Patient admissions
Pharmacology
Pharmacy
Population studies
Prescription drugs
Prescription writing
Prevalence
Regression analysis
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Serotonin uptake inhibitors
Side effects
Studies
Verapamil
Warfarin
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Summary:The use of multiple medications is becoming more common, with a correspondingly increased risk of untoward effects and drug-related morbidity and mortality. We aimed at estimating the prevalence of prescription of relevant potentially interacting drugs and at evaluating possible predictors of potentially interacting drug exposure. We retrospectively analyzed data on prescriptions dispensed from January 2004 to August 2005 to individuals of two Italian regions with a population of almost 2.1 million individuals. We identified 27 pairs of potentially interacting drugs by examining clinical relevance, documentation, and volume of use in Italy. Subjects who received at least one prescription of both drugs were selected. Co-prescribing denotes "two prescriptions in the same day", and concomitant medication "the prescription of two drugs with overlapping coverage". A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictors of potential Drug-Drug Interaction (pDDIs). 957,553 subjects (45.3% of study population) were exposed to at least one of the drugs/classes of the 27 pairs. Overall, pDDIs occurred 2,465,819 times. The highest rates of concomitant prescription and of co-prescription were for ACE inhibitors+NSAIDs (6,253 and 4,621/100,000 plan participants). Considering concomitance, the male/female ratio was
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0078827