Factors Associated with Drug Interactions in Medical Prescriptions Received in Community Pharmacies in Yaounde

IntroductionPrescriptions involving multiple drugs issued by healthcare professionals are frequently at the origin of drug-drug interactions. These interactions represent a major cause of poor adherence, therapeutic failure, or potentially serious adverse events that may compromise the patients vital prognosis. In Cameroon, drug interactions have been studied on several occasions in hospital settings but only rarely in community pharmacies. This motivated our study, which aimed to analyse the risk factors associated with the potential occurrence of drug interactions in medical prescriptions received in pharmacies within the Efoulan Health District in Yaounde. MethodologyA descriptive cross-sectional study with prospective data collection was conducted over a 7-month period, from November 2022 to May 2023, in all pharmacies within the Efoulan Health District. All legible and compliant prescriptions containing at least two medications were included. Data were collected using a pre-designed and pre-tested data collection form. Drug interactions were identified using the THERIAQUE(R) drug database. Data analysis was performed using IBM-SPSS(R) Version 23.0. ResultsThe study included 385 prescriptions, with a frequency of drug interactions in medical prescriptions of 17.5%. The prescriptions received were mainly issued by general practitioners (43.9%). The median number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 2 [2-3], with extremes ranging from 2 to 6. Most prescriptions contained two medications (42.1%). Prescriptions with two or three drugs, as well as those with more than three drugs, were predominantly written by general practitioners, accounting for 24.9% and 19%, respectively. However, cardiologists were twice as likely as other prescribers to prescribe more than three drugs. It was statistically demonstrated that the greater the number of prescribed medications, the higher the likelihood of drug interactions. Neurologists and cardiologists were, respectively, 7 times and 6 times more likely to issue prescriptions involving drug-drug interactions than other prescribers. ConclusionDrug interactions represent a moderate proportion of medical prescriptions received in community pharmacies in the Efoulan Health District of Yaounde. They are statistically associated with the number of medications prescribed and with prescriptions initiated by certain specialists, notably neurologists and cardiologists.