Assessing Factors Influencing Drug Interactions: Insights from Healthcare Practitioners at a North Indian Tertiary Care Hospital
Background: Drug interactions (DIs) occur when a drug, herb, or food disrupts the activity of another drug, potentially causing beneficial or harmful effects. Understanding practitioners' ability to identify and manage these interactions is crucial for patient safety. This study aimed to e...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
ADICHUNCHANAGIRI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Sciences and Health |
| Online Access: | https://jmsh.ac.in/articles/assessing-factors-influencing-drug-interactions-insights-from-healthcare-practitioners-at-a-north-indian-tertiary-care-hospital |
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| Summary: | Background: Drug interactions (DIs) occur when a drug, herb, or food disrupts the activity of another drug, potentially causing beneficial or harmful effects. Understanding practitioners' ability to identify and manage these interactions is crucial for patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting common drug interactions by assessing practitioners' knowledge, attitude, and awareness in their daily practice. Methods: In a cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Northern India, 300 doctors were randomly selected from 15 different specialties in the outpatient department. The study employed a validated questionnaire that included sections on demographic information, knowledge and practice related to drug interactions (DIs), and attitudes toward various sources of drug information. The frequency of response was calculated in percentage for the categorical variables. The chi-square test was used to examine the association between variables. P-value <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The study revealed a low level of knowledge among practitioners regarding drug interactions, with only half of the respondents correctly classifying drug pairs. Factors contributing to drug interactions included communication gaps between doctors and patients and insufficient counseling on drug-drug and drug-food interactions due to patient overload. Many practitioners expressed the need for interactive training sessions and the implementation of an electronic surveillance system to prevent harmful interactions. Conclusions: Regular training and collaboration between practitioners and pharmacologists are crucial to enhancing knowledge and expertise on drug interactions. This integration would enable appropriate patient counseling and improve treatment outcomes.
Keywords: Drug interaction, Healthcare practitioners, Patient safety, Knowledge, Attitude, Awareness |
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| ISSN: | 2394-9481 2394-949X |