Prescription of statins and pharmacokinetic interactions in Colombian patients

Background: Statins have extensive hepatic metabolism and can have multiple pharmacological interactions. The aim was to identify the main pharmacokinetic interactions between statins and their comedications in a group of patients from Colombia.Research design and methods: A cross-sectional study of pharmacokinetic interactions in patients treated with statins who were identified from a population database. The interactions were documented using the Lexicomp® database.Results: A total of 123,026 patients with statin prescriptions were identified, with a mean age of 68.4 ± 11.5 years; 57.1% were women, and 81.6% received atorvastatin. A total of 19.4% (n = 23.831) of patients presented pharmacological interactions. Some 15,474 (12.6%) had interactions classified as category C, 7.4% (n = 9077) as category D, and 0.5% (n = 660) as category X. 36.8% of the patients with lovastatin prescriptions had some interaction. Age older than 65 years, male sex, residence in capital cities, comorbidities, endocrine pathologies and HIV were associated with an increase in the probability of having contraindicated or risky interactions.Conclusions: Important interactions between statins and other medications were more common in adults over 65 years of age and those with endocrine comorbidities or HIV infection. This knowledge should help when proposing solutions that reduce the risk of adverse reactions.