Potential drug-drug interactions in paediatric outpatient prescriptions in Nigeria and implications for the future

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Kazeem Adeola Oshikoya1, Ibrahim Adekunle Oreagba2, Brian Godman3,4

  • 1a Pharmacology Department , Lagos State University College of Medicine , Ikeja , Nigeria.

Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology
|September 6, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) were common in Nigerian pediatric outpatients, affecting 16.9% of patients. However, these drug-drug interactions were linked to few adverse drug events (ADEs).

Area of Science:

  • Pharmacovigilance
  • Clinical Pharmacy
  • Pediatric Pharmacology

Background:

  • Limited data exists on drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and adverse drug events (ADEs) in Nigerian pediatric populations.
  • Understanding DDI prevalence is crucial for patient safety in pediatric care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the incidence of potential DDIs among pediatric outpatients in Nigeria.
  • To assess the association between potential DDIs and reported ADEs in this demographic.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective clinical audit was conducted over three months in four Nigerian general hospitals.
  • Data on potential DDIs and documented ADEs were extracted from patient case files of 1233 eligible pediatric outpatients.

Main Results:

  • 16.9% of patients (208/1233) had prescriptions with at least one potential DDI, predominantly involving antimalarial combination therapies.
  • Commonly implicated drugs included promethazine, artemether/lumefantrine, and ciprofloxacin.
  • While potential DDIs were frequent, only 15 patients reported ADEs, and just 48 attended follow-up clinics.

Conclusions:

  • Potential DDIs are prevalent in Nigerian pediatric outpatients.
  • Despite the high exposure to potential DDIs, a low number of actual adverse drug events were reported.
Abstract

Keywords:
Drug: drug interactionsNigeriaadverse drug eventsclinical auditpediatrics

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