Polypharmacy and the occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions among geriatric patients at the outpatient pharmacy department of a regional hospital in Durban, South Africa

Background: Polypharmacy is the administration of an excessive number of medicines and a signifcant irrational medicine use practice. Little is known about this practice in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the level of polypharmacy and potential drug–drug interactions amongst the geriatric patient population in a facility in South Africa. Method: A cross-sectional retrospective prescription chart review for 250 geriatric patients was conducted at the outpatient pharmacy department of a regional hospital. Variables extracted included demographic information, diag‑ nosis, type of prescriber contact, and polypharmacy. Potential drug–drug interactions were determined with webbased multi-drug interaction checkers. Results: The average (SD) number of diagnosed clinical problems was 3.54±1.26, with hypertension, diabetes mel‑ litus, and heart disease occurring most frequently. The level of polypharmacy was high with patients receiving an average (SD) of 12.13±4.25 prescribed medicines from 3032 prescribed medicines. The level of polypharmacy was highest within the age categories, 60–64, and 70–74 years of age, respectively. The level of potential drug–drug inter‑ actions was also high with an average (SD) of 10.30±7.48 from 2570 potential drug interactions. The majority of these interactions were moderate (72.5%) and pharmacodynamic (73.2%) by nature of the clinical severity of action and mechanism of action, respectively. Polypharmacy and type of prescriber contact were statistically signifcant contribu‑ tors to the occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions, (F (2, 249)=68.057, p<0.05). However, in a multivariate analysis of variables to determine the strength of the association, polypharmacy was determined to be the strongest contributor to the occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions (p<0.05) when compared with the type of pre‑ scriber contact (p value=0.467). Therefore, irrespective of the type of prescriber contact, polypharmacy increases the potential for drug interactions among the sampled patient population. Conclusion: A comprehensive consideration of disease management guidelines, patient factors, and rational medi‑ cine review could be measurable strategies towards improving medicine use.

Background: Polypharmacy is the administration of an excessive number of medicines and a signifcant irrational medicine use practice. Little is known about this practice in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the level of polypharmacy and potential drug–drug interactions amongst the geriatric patient population in a facility in South Africa. Method: A cross-sectional retrospective prescription chart review for 250 geriatric patients was conducted at the outpatient pharmacy department of a regional hospital. Variables extracted included demographic information, diag‑ nosis, type of prescriber contact, and polypharmacy. Potential drug–drug interactions were determined with webbased multi-drug interaction checkers. Results: The average (SD) number of diagnosed clinical problems was 3.54±1.26, with hypertension, diabetes mel‑ litus, and heart disease occurring most frequently. The level of polypharmacy was high with patients receiving an average (SD) of 12.13±4.25 prescribed medicines from 3032 prescribed medicines. The level of polypharmacy was highest within the age categories, 60–64, and 70–74 years of age, respectively. The level of potential drug–drug inter‑ actions was also high with an average (SD) of 10.30±7.48 from 2570 potential drug interactions. The majority of these interactions were moderate (72.5%) and pharmacodynamic (73.2%) by nature of the clinical severity of action and mechanism of action, respectively. Polypharmacy and type of prescriber contact were statistically signifcant contribu‑ tors to the occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions, (F (2, 249)=68.057, p<0.05). However, in a multivariate analysis of variables to determine the strength of the association, polypharmacy was determined to be the strongest contributor to the occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions (p<0.05) when compared with the type of pre‑ scriber contact (p value=0.467). Therefore, irrespective of the type of prescriber contact, polypharmacy increases the potential for drug interactions among the sampled patient population. Conclusion: A comprehensive consideration of disease management guidelines, patient factors, and rational medi‑ cine review could be measurable strategies towards improving medicine use.