Objective: Advanced
age, as a cause of increased prevalence of co-morbidities, is one of the main
risk factors for Alzheimer disease.
Co-morbidities accompanying the Alzheimer as well as the disease itself
elicit polypharmacy which means two or more drugs used concomitantly. One of
the undesirable results of polypharmacy is potential drug-drug interactions
(pDDI). The study aimed to evaluate the pDDIs
in Alzheimer patients.
Material-Method: Files
of patient who applied to a XXX Outpatient Clinic of a tertiary hospital in XXX
between 2016-2018 were evaluated retrospectively. Rate of polypharmacy,
presence and type of pDDI were determinated.
Results: In the
analyses of 115 files, mean age was 75.13+9.38 and frequency of polypharmacy
was calculated as 53.9%. Presence of 3 or more co-morbidites was associated
with polypharmacy. pDDI was detected in 77.4% of patients and type C
interaction was the most common type. Quetiapine, citalopram/escitalopram,
donepezil, risperidone and acetylsalicylic acid were the five drugs that
interacted with the maximum number of other medications.
Conclusion: The rate of polypharmacy and pDDI as a
consequence of polypharmacy could be higher in Alzheimer patients. Some pDDIs
could impair the therapeutic effects of Alzheimer drugs in addition to
undesirable effects. So the pDDI should be kept in mind when a new drug should
be added to Alzheimer patient.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Health Care Administration |
Journal Section | Original Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | December 13, 2019 |
Submission Date | July 31, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 10 Issue: 4 |