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Duplicate Prescription Patterns in Patients With Substance Use Disorders
Johannes Heck1, Benjamin Krichevsky2,3, Martin Schulze Westhoff4
1Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
|December 18, 2025
Summary
Potentially inappropriate duplicate prescriptions (PIDPs) occurred in 12.8% of psychiatric patients with substance use disorders. Sedatives and opioids were common causes, highlighting the need for careful medication monitoring to prevent adverse drug reactions.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Psychiatry
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Duplicate prescriptions (DPs) are a concern in patient care.
- Classifying DPs into appropriate (ADPs) and potentially inappropriate (PIDPs) is crucial for evaluating medication safety.
- Patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) often have complex medication regimens, increasing the risk of DPs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency and characteristics of PIDPs in psychiatric inpatients with SUDs.
- To differentiate between ADPs and PIDPs in this patient population.
- To identify common drug classes associated with PIDPs.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cross-sectional study of 1174 patients at a university hospital's addiction ward.
- Analysis of medication records from January 2016 to December 2021.
- Classification of DPs into ADPs and PIDPs (grades 1-3).
Main Results:
- 12.8% of patients experienced at least one PIDP.
- Grade-1 PIDPs were most frequent (12.0%), primarily involving sedatives.
- Grade-2 PIDPs (1.3%) were mainly associated with opioids.
- 29.0% of patients had at least one ADP.
Conclusions:
- Potentially inappropriate duplicate prescriptions are prevalent in psychiatric patients with SUDs.
- Sedatives and opioids are key drug classes contributing to PIDPs.
- Vigilant monitoring for PIDPs is essential to improve patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.
Keywords:
addiction psychiatrycross‐sectional studyduplicate prescriptionsmedication reviewpharmacotherapy safetyMore Related Videos
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