Polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions in people living with human immunodeficiency virus in the region of Madrid, Spain: A population-based study

Abstract

Background. Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) that involve antiretrovirals (ARVs) tend to cause harm if unrecognized, especially in the context of comorbidity and polypharmacy. Methods. A linkage was established between the drug dispensing registry of Madrid and the Liverpool human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) DDI database (January 2017-June 2017). Polypharmacy was defined as the use of ≥5 non-HIV medications, and DDIs were classified by a traffic-light ranking for severity. Results. A total of 22 945 people living with HIV (PLWH) and 6 613 506 individuals without HIV had received medications. ARV regimens were predominantly based on integrase inhibitors (51.96%). Polypharmacy was higher in PLWH (32.94%) than individuals without HIV (22.16%; P