Objective: To determine the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions involving psychotropics prescribed by dentists, and dispensed by the public healthcare system, as well as to describe the severity and level of evidence of those interactions in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Materials and methods: We conducted data analysis from pharmaceutical claims in which dental patients received systemic psychotropics in 2017. Data from the Pharmaceutical Management System provided the drug dispensing history of the patients, allowing the identification of those on concomitant medication use. The outcome was the occurrence of potential drug-drug interactions, which were detected according to IBM Micromedex®. Independent variables were the patient's sex, age, and the number of drugs used. Descriptive statistics was performed using SPSS v. 26.
Results: Overall, 1480 individuals were prescribed psychotropic drugs. The prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions was 24.8% (n = 366). The total of 648 interactions was observed and, most of which were of major severity (n = 438, 67.6%). Most interactions occurred in female individuals (n = 235; 64.2%), with 46.0 (±17.3) years-old, concurrently taking 3.7 (±1.9) drugs.
Conclusion: A substantial proportion of dental patients presented potential drug-drug interactions, mostly of major severity, which might be life-threatening.
Keywords: dental care; drug interactions; drug-related side effects and adverse reactions; patient safety; psychotropic drugs.
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