ISSN: 2639-2038
Authors: Turabian JL*
Drug-drug interaction (DDI) is the modification that the action of a medicine undergoes due to the simultaneous presence of another in the organism. The effects of the DDIs are: 1. the appearance of pharmacological adverse reactions, and 2. the decrease in the effectiveness of the treatment. DDIs in outpatient population may be high because of polypharmacy. DDIs are a real problem in clinical practice, which may partly remain hidden. The DDIs are often predictable and preventable. Most DDI studies focus on rates in hospitalized patients. Less is known of DDIs in outpatients; particularly how the general practitioner could it contribute to DDI management by applying his surveillance systems for identifying high-risk medications. In addition, many DDIs are not described by usual databases. On the other hand, there is wide variance in the clinical relevance of these DDIs. The incidence of DDI increases with the number of drugs used and with age. The prevalence and incidence of clinically observable DDIs is between 5-10% and up to 25% of patients on pharmacological treatment, and potential DDIs is at least three to five times higher (from 15% to 50%), and even a nearby figure to 100% in geriatric patients on pharmacological treatment. Pharmacodynamic DDIs are more prevalent (80%) than pharmacokinetic. However, the incidence of potentially serious DDIs is relatively low (perhaps less than 1%) among ambulatory patients. However, the absolute number of patients involved is high, its serious potential risks, and its tendency is to increase rapidly. The clinically recognizable IDDs are like the visible part of an iceberg, where it only stands out between a third or fifth of its total volume, while the rest is "submerged" (potential DDIs and not clinically detected DDIs), which poses a serious danger to the treatment of patients.
Keywords: Drug Interactions; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions/epidemiology; Drug Monitoring/methods; Polypharmacy; Practice Patterns; Inappropriate Prescribing/adverse effects; Primary Health Care; General Practice
