Exploring the Side Effects and Drug-Drug Interactions Resulting from Polypharmacy: A Case Study from Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54172/f4r0h750Keywords:
Drug-drug interactions, Polypharmacy, Drug Side Effects, Case StudyAbstract
In clinical practice, it is standard procedure to assess potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) when prescribing multiple medications to a single patient. The prevalence of DDIs escalates with an increased number of concurrently prescribed drugs. Polypharmacy, as defined by the World Health Organization, entails the administration of numerous medications simultaneously, or an excessive number of medications. We postulate a close association between polypharmacy and DDIs. This study presents a singular case investigation encompassing a comprehensive review of all prescribed and over-the-counter medications, medical history, and laboratory results, coupled with an extensive cross-referencing with existing literature to identify DDIs associated with polypharmacy. Our findings underscore a robust positive correlation between polypharmacy and DDIs, with a total of 83 documented instances. Notably, antibiotics emerged as the medication class responsible for the highest number of DDIs, accounting for 13 cases.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Issa E. A. Amara, Malak Aburas , Shaban E. A. Saad (Author)
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