A clinical evaluation of the Janus Web Application, a software screening tool for drug-drug interactions

To evaluate the clinical relevance of the Janus Web Application (JWA) in screening for potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs). One hundred and fifty patients taking two drugs or more were studied. Potential DDIs were identified by the JWA. Interviewing the patient and looking into his/her medical records provided complementing information. A clinical pharmacologist judged which potential DDIs were clinically relevant. Potentially relevant DDIs identified by the JWA were then correlated with clinically relevant DDIs. A total of 150 significant potential DDIs were found. Sixteen percent (24/150) were judged to be clinically relevant. A very small proportion of DDIs was considered clinically relevant in the specific clinical context. To optimise the software’s user-friendliness, the following points need to be considered: the possibility of eliminating trivial potential DDIs, individualising drug alerts, and providing written information, accessible via a hyperlink.