A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON DRUG- DRUG INTERACTIONS IN CARDIAC PATIENTS AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Aim:To study the occurrence, frequency and severity of significant drug-drug interactions in cardiac patients. Method: This study was carried out for duration of 6 months at the inpatient department of General medicine in Osmania general hospital, Afzalgunj, Hyderabad. The data of 75 patients was collected and the frequently occurring drug-drug interactions among the selected patients were noted. Results: The study identified various drug-drug interactions in cardiac patients with minor drug interactions being more common (52%). The subjects were distributed on the basis of age, gender, diagnosis and number of drugs used. The cardiovascular drugs prescribed were Anticoagulants (25.7%), Anti hyper lipidemics (21.3%), Diuretics (16.9%) and Calcium channel blockers (13.2%), ACE-inhibitors (9.5%), Vasodilators (6.6%) and Angiotensin receptor blockers (6.6%). Conclusion: The present study shows that DDI’s are frequent among hospitalized cardiac patients and highlights the need to screen prescriptions of cardiovascular patients for DDI’s, as this helps in detection and prevention of possible adverse drug interactions.Thus, this study assists in understanding the factors associated with DDI’s that can help in safe and effective use of drugs in future. Key words: Drug-drug interactions, cardiovascular, patients, adverse drug