Assessment of potential drug-drug interactions in cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital.

Background: Cancer patients are administered various chemotherapeutic agents along with supportive management, which increases the risk of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs). We aimed to assess the pDDIs in In-patient Department (IPD) patients receiving cancer chemotherapy in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in the oncology department of a tertiary care hospital for a period of 6 months. Patient information was noted in the data collection form, and pDDIs were assessed using the Micromedex® database. Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, and Spearman's correlation were the tests used for statistical analysis. P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: In a sample size of 145 patients having a confidence interval of 95% and response distribution of 50%, the margin of error was found to be 8.11%. Male predominance (57.2%) was seen in the study. Although the adult patient population (56.5%) dominated the study, pediatric (26.9%) and geriatric (16.6%) patients were also included. A total of 115 pDDIs were found in 41% of the total patient population, out of which 56% (n = 64) were moderate and 44% (n = 51) were major in severity. The number of drug interactions was found to have correlation with the number of drugs (rho = 0.2, P = 0.01) prescribed during hospital stay.

Conclusion: The present study shows that cancer patients are relatively at risk for drug-drug interactions. To avoid Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRs), harmful effects, and other undesirable clinical manifestations shown by drug-drug interactions, screening for pDDIs is required.