A comparative analysis of the drug interaction programmes amongst geriatric outpatients

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Objectives: Drug interaction programmes are considered imperative tools utilised by healthcare professionals to screen potential risks that may occur from drug combinations. However, the outcomes of analysing drug–drug interactions (DDIs) differ across each programme. It is crucial for clinician to be aware of the varying results from each database and their limitations before utilising them. This study aimed to compare drug interaction programmes in geriatric patients at an outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand. This study collected all prescriptions for patients from the outpatient clinic during November 2021 and 2022. The drug interaction programs using Micromedex, Medscape and Lexicomp were used to detect and assess the severity of DDIs. Results: The participants were recruited using electronic medical records in the enrolment of a total of 10,877 individuals. The majority of these patients were male, with an average age of 74.3 (standard deviation 6.8) years. The prevalence of major DDIs using Lexicomp, Micromedex and Medscape was 28.1%, 57.9% and 18.2%, respectively. Only 1700 major DDIs (15.6%) were observed to be consistent across all three programmes. The strength of agreement amongst these drug interaction programmes using Kappa statistics was 0.15, 0.35 and 0.61 ( P <0.01) in major, moderate and minor + no interaction groups, respectively. Conclusion: The degree of agreement of major DDIs among the three-drug programmes, Lexicomp, Micromedex and Medscape, was minimal. To maintain uniformity in drug information sources, it is essential to apply measures for the standardisation of DDIs documentation.