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Background Polypharmacy is common among hospitalized patients with infectious infections owing to comorbidities or concomitant illnesses. This raises the likelihood of drug-drug interactions and creates uncertainty for healthcare providers. This study aimed to assess the potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) among hospitalized patients with infectious diseases in a secondary care hospital. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted in the internal medicine ward for six months after the ethics committee’s approval. Data were collected from patient case records, and prescriptions were screened for pDDIs from a portable electronic physician information database (PEPID) resource analyzed using SPSS, version 27.0. Results In total, 148 patient case records were analyzed, and 549 pDDIs were identified, with 66.8% having at least one or more DDIs. The mean number of drug interactions was 3.70 ± 4.58 per prescription. The most frequently encountered drug interactions were drug combinations such as bisoprolol with atorvastatin and aspirin with tazobactam/piperacillin. Bivariate analysis showed that age, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, and the number of drugs prescribed were risk factors associated with DDIs (p Conclusions This study observed the prevalence of DDIs in hospitalized patients with infectious diseases of ‘moderate’ severity. Prescription screening using a drug information database assists in early identification and prevention of DDIs, enhancing drug safety and quality of patient-centered care.

Background Polypharmacy is common among hospitalized patients with infectious infections owing to comorbidities or concomitant illnesses. This raises the likelihood of drug-drug interactions and creates uncertainty for healthcare providers. This study aimed to assess the potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) among hospitalized patients with infectious diseases in a secondary care hospital. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted in the internal medicine ward for six months after the ethics committee’s approval. Data were collected from patient case records, and prescriptions were screened for pDDIs from a portable electronic physician information database (PEPID) resource analyzed using SPSS, version 27.0. Results In total, 148 patient case records were analyzed, and 549 pDDIs were identified, with 66.8% having at least one or more DDIs. The mean number of drug interactions was 3.70 ± 4.58 per prescription. The most frequently encountered drug interactions were drug combinations such as bisoprolol with atorvastatin and aspirin with tazobactam/piperacillin. Bivariate analysis showed that age, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, and the number of drugs prescribed were risk factors associated with DDIs (p Conclusions This study observed the prevalence of DDIs in hospitalized patients with infectious diseases of ‘moderate’ severity. Prescription screening using a drug information database assists in early identification and prevention of DDIs, enhancing drug safety and quality of patient-centered care.

Background Polypharmacy is common among hospitalized patients with infectious infections owing to comorbidities or concomitant illnesses. This raises the likelihood of drug-drug interactions and creates uncertainty for healthcare providers. This study aimed to assess the potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) among hospitalized patients with infectious diseases in a secondary care hospital. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted in the internal medicine ward for six months after the ethics committee’s approval. Data were collected from patient case records, and prescriptions were screened for pDDIs from a portable electronic physician information database (PEPID) resource analyzed using SPSS, version 27.0. Results In total, 148 patient case records were analyzed, and 549 pDDIs were identified, with 66.8% having at least one or more DDIs. The mean number of drug interactions was 3.70 ± 4.58 per prescription. The most frequently encountered drug interactions were drug combinations such as bisoprolol with atorvastatin and aspirin with tazobactam/piperacillin. Bivariate analysis showed that age, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, and the number of drugs prescribed were risk factors associated with DDIs (p Conclusions This study observed the prevalence of DDIs in hospitalized patients with infectious diseases of ‘moderate’ severity. Prescription screening using a drug information database assists in early identification and prevention of DDIs, enhancing drug safety and quality of patient-centered care.

Efficacious use of antimicrobial agents (AMAs) is paramount to combat a wide range of infections, ensure patient safety, and reduce antimicrobial resistance. To assess the drug utilization patterns of AMAs in hospitalized patients with infectious diseases in a secondary care hospital. A prospective observational study was conducted for 6 months in the internal medicine department. Data were collected, antimicrobial prescription patterns were screened, and drug utilization was assessed using the anatomical therapeutic chemical/defined daily dose methodology. Furthermore, predictors of the prescription of multiple AMAs were also analyzed. A total of 146 patient case records were reviewed and 285 AMAs were prescribed during the study period with a mean patient age of 54.2 ± 24.4 years. The average number of antimicrobials administered per patient was 1.94 ± 0.94. Respiratory tract infection and urinary tract infection were the common indications, and penicillins were the most prescribed class of AMAs. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of comorbidities ( P < 0.05) and longer hospital stays ( P < 0.0001) increased the likelihood of prescribing multiple AMAs. The study provides insight into the pattern of prescribing of AMAs which help to improve the quality of care. Prescribing AMAs by generics and from the hospital formulary list according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization is a good sign of clinical practice. The study signifies the need to continuously monitor AMAs to optimize drug therapy and enhance the quality of drug use in clinical practice., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research.)