A STUDY DESCRIBING THE USAGE PATTERN OF ANTIMICROBIALS WITH INSIGHTS INTO ANTIMICROBIAL DRUG-DRUG INTERACTIONS AMONG ADULT POPULATION IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS

Abstract

The study aims to describe the use of antimicrobials among adult population in hospital settings with emphasis on the antimicrobial therapy provided and potential antimicrobial drug-drug interactions identified. 108 adult patients who were prescribed antimicrobials were considered for this retrospective study which was carried out over a period of 3 months. It was identified that antimicrobials prescribed were largely antibacterial (91.2%) with Piperacillin + Tazobactam (24 times) and Cefuroxime (15 times) being the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials on treatment and discharge, respectively. Upon assessing the antimicrobial therapy, it was identified that antimicrobials were predominantly prescribed empirically (57.4%) and monotherapy was observed more, both on treatment (52.8%) and discharge (47.2%). A total of 79 different potential antimicrobial drug-drug interactions were identified, out of which, 64.6% were major interactions. Ciprofloxacin + Metronidazole drug-drug interaction was the most common drug interaction observed 6 times, whereas clarithromycin and ciprofloxacin caused the greatest number of interactions with a frequency of 10 instances each. Ondansetron was the non-antimicrobial drug that caused the greatest number of drug interactions (21.2%). The present study reinforces that antibiotics and other antimicrobials are a group of very commonly prescribed medications in the hospital with a variety of indications. An important, but often unheeded aspect of therapy is antimicrobial interactions with other drugs, which this study has highlighted.