Abstract

A PROSPECTIVE STUDY ON DRUG-DRUG INTERACTIONS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS AT TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Suchetha Kumari, Rakshith A., Dr. Karunakar Hegde, Dr. Ramakrishna Shabaraya A.

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Abstract

Diabetes is the most common disease. It is considered as one of the great global health challenges of the twenty-first century. The countries with the highest number of adults with diabetes include China, India, and the USA. Drug interaction is described as the change of the impact of the drug prior or concomitant administration of some other drug. Diabetic patients frequently have a number of other coexisting health problems. Therefore, in addition to anti-diabetic drugs, other medications are often needed to control these problems. The chance of drug interaction increases exponentially polypharmacy given to a patient. Main aim and objective of our study was to estimate the influence of probable drug-drug interactions, to identify the therapeutic class of the drug carrying a higher threat for drug-drug interactions and high-risk drugs accountable for drug-drug interactions and to find the common interactions between two anti-diabetic agents. The data collected included in-patient number, gender, age and drug prescribed. Interactions between other therapeutic class of drugs and insulin was found in 8 prescriptions. 17 Prescriptions had 23 major interactions between the drugs (5.51%). Aspirin was seen to be interacting with Glimepiride and Telmisartan in each 14 prescriptions. Poly-pharmacy is a region of serious problem in diabetes mellitus, specially in the elderly patients. The best way to reduce the frequency of drug-drug interactions is to minimize the various other unnecessary drugs prescribed. To decrease the frequency of possible interactions it ought to be necessary to make a careful resolution of therapeutic alternatives.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin, Metformin, Drug-Drug interaction.