POTENTIAL INTERACTIONS ANALYSIS OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS USED IN GERIATRIC

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension is a degenerative disease that increases with age. Elderly patients are at the highest risk due to organ function decreasing. Therefore, drug interactions are possible. This study determined the potential drug interactions, which aimed to assess the potential for drug interactions based on the mechanism and severity, and next, to determine the relationship between polypharmacy and drug interactions. Methods: This research was conducted retrospectively using data from medical records of geriatric patients with hypertension at the outpatient polyclinic of RSI Ibnu Sina Padang for 2021. Purposive sampling was used in this study. Results: A sample of 155 patients was included in the inclusion criteria. The data were checked using Stockleys Drug Interaction, Adverse Drug Interaction, and software on the Drug Interaction Checker (www. drugs. com), then analyzed descriptively using SPSS. The results showed that the number of potential drug-drug interactions was quite high at 63.2%. The most common mechanism pattern is pharmacodynamics (66.67%), with the highest severity of drug interactions being moderate (88%). The study showed a significant association between polypharmacy and drug interactions (p=0.000). Conclusion: The active role of pharmacists is expected in monitoring drug use that can potentially cause drug interactions. This action can prevent unwanted events associated with concurrent drug use.