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WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Initial treatment recommendations of COVID-19 were based on the use of antimicrobial drugs and immunomodulators. Although information on drug interactions was available for other pathologies, there was little evidence in the treatment of COVID-19. The objective of this study was to analyse the potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) derived from the medication used in COVID-19 patients in the first pandemic wave and to evaluate the real consequences of such interactions in clinical practice. METHODS: Cohort, retrospective and single-centre study carried out in a third-level hospital. Adult patients, admitted with suspected COVID-19, that received at least one dose of hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, interferon beta 1-b or tocilizumab and with any pDDIs according to "Liverpool Drug Interaction Group" between March and May 2020 were included. The possible consequences of pDDIs at the QTc interval level or any other adverse event according to the patient's medical record were analysed. A descriptive analysis was carried out to assess possible factors that may affect the QTc interval prolongation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Two hundred and eighteen (62.3%) patients of a total of 350 patients admitted with COVID-19 had at least one pDDI. There were 598 pDDIs. Thirty-eight pDDIs (6.3%) were categorized as not recommended or contraindicated. The mean value difference between baseline and pDDI posterior ECG was 412.3 ms ± 25.8 ms vs. 426.3 ms ± 26.7 ms; p

Background New frontline oral therapies for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) are available. The change to the oral route of administration could increase adherence. 1 Purpose The aim was to assess patient adherence to new oral disease modifying therapies (oDMT), dimethyl-fumarate (DMF) and teriflunomide (TE), in comparison with prior injectable therapies (iDMT). Material and methods This was a descriptive, observational and prospective study conducted between June 2015 and March 2016, in a university hospital of 1100 beds. RRMS patients switched from iDMT (interferon-beta 1a/1b or glatiramer acetate (GA)) to new oDMT were included. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were obtained by structured interview, review of medical records and pharmaceutical database. Adherence, measured by medication possession ratio (MPR) and expressed as a percentage, was compared for oDMT versus iDMT. Adherence was considered if MPR ≥90%. SPSS (V.15) software was used for statistical analysis. Results 38 patients were switched from iDMT to DMF (n=20) or TE (n=18). Women 87.8%, mean age (SD) 39.2 (8.5) years, mean disease duration (SD) 6.0 (5.0) years, median EDSS (range) 2 (0–6.5) and annualised relapse rate over the past year 0.7±0.8. 66.7% of patients were switched from interferon-beta and 33.3% from GA. Prior mean treatment duration (SD) was 423.4 (167.2) days. Switched patients received one DMT (63.6%) or two DMT (36.4%). The main reasons for change were ineffective (59.4%) and intolerance (40.6%). In 4 patients oDMT were stopped in the first 2 months: 1 patient on TE due to pregnancy, 4 patients on DMF due to GI intolerance (n=3) and lymphopenia (n=1). Mean oDMT duration (SD) was 166.5 (59.3) days. MPR to iDMT was 85.2% versus 98.1% for oDMT (p 0.05). Adherence ≥90% was observed in 70% of patients on iDMT and in 100% on oDMT. Conclusion Patients on oDMT had better adherence than those previously treated with iDMT. This change may have an important impact on disease control. More real world data are necessary to evaluate long term adherence to oDMT. References and/or acknowledgements 1. Bergvall N, et al. Persistence and adherence to fingolimod compared with other disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis: a retrospective US claims database analysis. J Med Econ2014;17:696–707. No conflict of interest

Objective To analyse the factors leading to greater satisfaction among patients attending the outpatient hospital pharmacy (OPh). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted of patients attending the OPh of a 1250-bed university hospital. A self-administered questionnaire for measuring outpatients9 satisfaction was developed. Global satisfaction was measured on a scale of 1 to 10. Indices of perceived quality for accessibility, interpersonal professional–patient relationship and the convenience of the process were modelled through a principal component analysis using varimax rotation. The relationship between the principal components and overall satisfaction was evaluated using regression analysis. Results A questionnaire-based survey was conducted between May and June 2015. A total of 509 valid responses (86.9% response rate) were collected from the OPh. The overall satisfaction score was 7.81 (95% CI 7.59 to 8.04). The principal component analysis produced two components that explained 62.1% of the variance. The first component (CP1) contained questions related to the adequacy of the resources and services. The second component (CP2) contained questions about interpersonal professional–patient relationship. An additional unit in the CP2 was associated with a 3.23 increased risk of having higher satisfaction scores, while an increase of an additional unit in CP1 was associated with a 1.93 increased risk of having higher satisfaction scores. Conclusions Our study shows that the factor which predicts the satisfaction of patients who come to the OPh is the quality of care provided by pharmacists—in particular, information provided, resolution of doubts, personal attention and time devoted to the patient.