A Prospective Study on Clinically Significant Drug – Drug Interactions by Systematic Review of Case files in a South Indian Tertiary Care Hospital

Objectives: The main objective of the study was to recognize potential drug-drug interactions, thus reducing their potential risk and improving pharmaceutical care by minimizing problems that may arise out of improper medication. Methodology: A prospective interventional study of a duration of 6 months was conducted in three phases (Pre interventional, Interventional and Post interventional) among 200 inpatients (in the age group of 18 years and above) of Pulmonology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology and General Medicine Departments of a tertiary care referral hospital. Results: Out of a total of 495 interactions, 368 (74.34%) interactions occurred in the Pre interventional phase and 127 (25.65%) interactions in Post interventional phase. There was a statistically significant reduction in drug-drug interactions occurring in the Post interventional phase (P value <0.05) which suggests encouraging the intervention of clinical pharmacists in assessing and controlling potential drug-drug interactions. Conclusion: Among the conclusions of this study are that a wide number of DDIs exist within a hospital environment. Further, that a majority of the DDIs may be reduced by a significant amount via means of contact programs with both physicians as well as subjects. This may include distributing information letters to physicians concerned and providing bedside patient counseling as was carried out in this study. In conclusion, our study suggests that a clinical pharmacist could make statistically provable improvements in minimizing harmful outcomes of DDIs by means of calculated study and information disbursal of the given medical scenario.