Potential drug interactions among elderly inpatients of an University Hospital

Abstract

The aging process of people is closely linked to the use of several drugs and consequently associated with a higher event of drug interactions (DI). This study aimed to analyze the potential DI events in elderly inpatients. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the university hospital. Medical records were used to data collection. Drugs were classified according Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Code and the analysis of the DI was performed by Micromedex® database. Two hundred and fifty-eight patients were analyzed with an average age of 71.9 years and the majority of them were women (52.7%). The number of drug prescriptions ranged from 2 to 16 with an average of 6.8 per prescription. Most drugs involved in the DI related to the cardiovascular system (38.6%). It was identified 65.6% of potential DI and classified as moderate severity (75.3%). Pharmacokinetic interactions corresponded to 65.4% of drug prescriptions and hypotension and hyperkalemia were responsible for 30.7% of adverse drug reactions. Monitoring of signs and symptoms (65.7%) was most clinical management and blood pressure measurement corresponded to 21.8%. This study showed the risk of the DI in elderly inpatients, emphasizing the importance of helping health teams to minimize drug-related problems.

Keywords

• drug interactions. aged. hospitals