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High-throughput Identification of Synergistic Drug Combinations by the Overlap2 Method
Published on: May 21, 2018
A medication database--a tool for detecting drug interactions in hospital
P E Grönroos1, K M Irjala, R K Huupponen
1Central Laboratory, Turku University Central Hospital, Finland. paula.gronroos@utu.fi
European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Potentially serious drug interactions occurred in 6.8% of patients, with calcium and fluoroquinolone use being most common. An online system can help detect these interactions for safer prescribing.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Health Informatics
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Drug interactions pose risks ranging from minor symptoms to life-threatening events.
- Clinicians may lack awareness of potentially interacting drug combinations.
- An online alarming system was developed to identify drug interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the incidence and nature of potential drug interactions in a hospital patient population.
- To evaluate the utility of a developed online alarming system for drug interactions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized computerized Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC)-coded patient medication data.
- Analyzed data from 2547 patients across two internal medicine wards.
- Combined patient data with an ATC-coded rule base to identify potential drug interactions.
Main Results:
- Detected 326 potentially serious drug interactions.
- 6.8% of patients (173 out of 2547) experienced one or more potentially harmful drug combinations.
- The most frequent interaction involved concomitant use of calcium and fluoroquinolones, affecting absorption (66 prescriptions).
Conclusions:
- Potentially inappropriate drug combinations are frequent in hospital settings.
- Structured, coded medication data and online monitoring systems can efficiently detect drug interactions.
- Computerized alarming systems can improve prescribing safety, though further refinement is needed to minimize false alarms.
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