Evaluating Poly-Pharmacy and Drug Interactions in Cardiovascular Treatment: A Call for Vigilant Medication Management

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) have a considerable impact on therapeutic response which, in turn, could result in adverse drug reactions (ADRs), or even treatment failure. It was directed at patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) as this patient group is more likely to experience DDIs owing to the complexity and number of their drug treatments. The study, analyzed 108 prescriptions using different analytical tools which was carried out for two weeks in Muzaffarabad and Peshawar, Pakistan. The correlation between the number of prescribed drugs and DDIs is significant. There were DDIs in 68.51% of the total number of prescriptions (74/108), including serious interactions in 15.35%. Preservations of prescription practice have to be developed since the results are beginning to underline this last point, especially in a poly-pharmacy environment.