Heavy consumers of drugs--seen from the viewpoint of the community pharmacist
Mellbye, K.Svane.; Berg, C.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 124(23): 3069-3071
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 15586191 Document Number: 582302
Heavy users of medicines observed in the pharmacy give an indication of the extent of the phenomenon of polypharmacy, associated with health risks for the individual and a possible overuse of health-services resources. The objective of this study was to identify heavy users of medicines who may be exposed to drug interactions. We checked prescriptions handed in to a community pharmacy over a period of one month in order to identify those patients who according to the computer system had bought ten or more different drug substances over the last four months. The drugs were checked against DRUID, a Norwegian drug interaction database. On the basis of a total of 9339 prescriptions, 216 users (2.3%) filled the inclusion criteria; 74% of them were women, 66% were aged 65 or above. A substantial number of potential interactions were detected; the most prevalent were associated with warfarin, NSAIDs and aspirin. Advising heavy users of medical drugs is a challenge for the community pharmacist. More information about this group is needed.