Role of Pharmacist in Reducing the Rate of Drug Interactions; An Experience from North of Iran

Background and purpose: Drug interactions are one of the serious subsets of medication errors and occur when the effects or toxicity of one drug are affected by another. This study aimed to investigate drug interactions and the role of pharmacist in reducing drug interactions in Ramsar Imam Sajjad Hospital, Iran. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in all prescriptions of medicinal products by specialist physicians in Ramsar Special Clinic from March to May 2019. Drug interactions were determined based on Drug Interaction Facts (2014) and Drugs website (www.drugs.com). A list of drug interactions prescribed by each physician was compiled and discussed in face-to-face visits with physicians. They were then provided with a list of unsafe combinations of medications. Prescriptions of physicians who had previous history of prescriptions with drug interactions were reviewed within two months in January and February 2020. Results: In first phase, 2864 prescriptions were studied of which 268 (9.3%) were detected with drug interactions. There were 40 (14.9%) cases of major drug interactions and 228 (85%) cases of moderate drug interactions. After providing feedback to physicians about drug interactions, the rate of drug-drug interactions decreased from 9.3% to 6.4%. Conclusion: Many drug interactions are preventable and communications between physicians and pharmacists can help identifying drug interactions and minimizing their incidence.