Part of Thesis--Copenhagen. / Summary in English and Danish. Bibliography: p. [318]-342.

Το mHealth, η χρήση δηλαδή φορητών τεχνολογιών για την βελτίωση των παρεχόμενων υπηρεσιών υγείας, είναι σήμερα ένα από τα πιο ταχέως αναπτυσσόμενα πεδία της ηλεκτρονικής υγείας (eHealth). Ο αριθμός των επαγγελματιών υγείας που υιοθετούν έξυπνα κινητά τηλέφωνα (smartphones) για την εκτέλεση πληθώρας λειτουργιών αυξάνεται συνεχώς, εξαιτίας των δυνατοτήτων και της φορητότητας που αυτά παρέχουν. Ταυτόχρονα, τα σφάλματα στη φαρμακευτική αγωγή είναι από τα πιο συνηθισμένα ιατρικά λάθη με επιπτώσεις τόσο στην υγεία του ασθενούς όσο και στις δαπάνες στην υγεία. Η χορήγηση φαρμάκων είναι μια πολύπλοκη διαδικασία, καθώς απαιτεί από τον ειδικό της υγείας την ανάλυση πληθώρας παραγόντων και την ανάκτηση, επεξεργασία και διαχείριση μεγάλου όγκου πληροφορίας. Σύμφωνα με τη βιβλιογραφία, η χρήση τεχνολογιών πληροφορικής για την υποβοήθηση των επαγγελματιών υγείας στη λήψη αποφάσεων κατά τη συνταγογράφηση, μπορεί να συμβάλει σημαντικά στη μείωση των σφαλμάτων φαρμακευτικής αγωγής. Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας, προχωρήσαμε στη διερεύνηση και αξιολόγηση των σημαντικότερων εφαρμογών έξυπνων κινητών συσκευών για το φάρμακο, με στόχο την εξαγωγή χρήσιμων συμπερασμάτων για τα χαρακτηριστικά και τις λειτουργίες που ενσωματώνουν. Ένα από τα βασικά συμπεράσματα της έρευνας ήταν η απουσία αντίστοιχης εφαρμογής για τα φάρμακα που είναι εγκεκριμένα από τον Εθνικό Οργανισμό Φαρμάκων (ΕΟΦ). Ως εκ τούτου, προχωρήσαμε στο σχεδιασμό και την ανάπτυξη εφαρμογής για τον έλεγχο ασυμβασιών μεταξύ φαρμάκων, η οποία παρέχει επιπλέον τη δυνατότητα προβολής πληροφοριών συνταγολογίου για τα φάρμακα του ΕΟΦ. Ο σχεδιασμός της εφαρμογής έγινε λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τις ανάγκες και τις απαιτήσεις μελλοντικών χρηστών, όπως οι επαγγελματίες υγείας και οι ασθενείς, προκειμένου να διασφαλιστεί η λειτουργικότητα και η ευχρηστία της. Η εν λόγω εφαρμογή προορίζεται για έξυπνες κινητές συσκευές που διαθέτουν λειτουργικό σύστημα Android, ενώ η πληροφορία που ενσωματώνει βασίζεται αποκλειστικά στο εθνικό συνταγολόγιο του ΕΟΦ. / Mobile Health or mHealth, namely the use of mobile and wireless technologies in order to improve health services and achieve health goals, is today one of the most rapidly expanding fields of electronic health (eHealth). The number of health professionals that adopt smartphones to perform multiple tasks, during their everyday medical practice, is increasing constantly. This is due to the fact that smartphones provide advanced computing capabilities and high portability. Simultaneously, medication errors are among the most common medical errors which have negative impact both for the health of the patient and the expenditure on health sector. Drug prescribing is quite a complex procedure, considering the fact that requires the health expert to analyze multiple factors and retrieve, process, manage and digest large volume of information. According to the literature, the use of information technologies to assist health professionals in decision-making when prescribing drugs, can contribute significantly to the reduction of medication errors. In the context of our work, we explored and evaluated the major smartphone applications for drugs, aiming to the extraction of useful conclusions about the features and functions that they incorporate. One of the research key findings was the absence of a corresponding application for the drugs that are approved by the National Drug Organization of Greece. Therefore, we design and develop an application for checking drug-drug interactions which additionally provides the ability to view national formulary information about drugs. The analysis and design of the application was implemented in collaboration with future users, such as health professionals and patients, in order to ensure that will meet their needs and requirements and at the same time will remain user friendly. This application is intended for Android smart mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablet PCs) and the information that integrates is solely based on the national formulary of the National Drug Organization of Greece.

The general aim of this thesis was to improve the understanding of the in vivo pharmacokinetics and, in particular, the metabolism of finasteride, a 5α-reductase inhibitor used in the treatment of enlarged prostate glands and male pattern baldness. CYP3A4 has been identified as the major enzyme involved in the sequential metabolism of finasteride to ω-OH finasteride (M1) and ω-COOH finasteride (M3). The consequences of induced and inhibited metabolism on the pharmacokinetics of finasteride and its metabolites were investigated in humans and pigs. Both studies included bile collection. The collected human and pig samples were used for the metabolite identification. As expected, induced metabolism led to reduced plasma exposure of finasteride and inhibited metabolism had the opposite effect. The interactions were investigated in detail and included examination of the biliary pharmacokinetics of finasteride and its metabolites. In pigs, the study included monitoring of the hepatic extraction over time, deconvolution and the development of a semi-physiological model for comparison of the effects on the gut wall and liver metabolism. For M3, the concentration ratios of bile to plasma and the renal clearance indicated that carrier-mediated processes are involved in the biliary and urinary excretion. This was not, however, the case for finasteride. The metabolite, M1, could not be quantified either in humans or pigs. Instead, two other OH metabolites, M1 isomers, were identified in humans. These metabolites were found to undergo glucuronide conjugation. In humans, one glucuronide was identified intact and in pigs, both glucuronides were identified intact in bile and in urine. In addition, a glucuronide of M3 was identified in human bile. In conclusion, advances have been made in the understanding of the pharmacokinetics of finasteride, in particular in relation to the metabolism. Hopefully, the findings of this comprehensive investigation can be applied to other drugs and novel chemical entities.

The work presented in this dissertation focuses on two important medication-related problems in older adults, that is, untreated indication and drug-drug interactions, specifically with respect to a high-risk medication such as warfarin. Warfarin is a challenge to use in clinical practice due to its narrow therapeutic index, variability in dose-response and its interactions with numerous foods and drugs. This dissertation presents the research from two projects. In the first project the prevalence and predictors of warfarin use in nursing home (NH) residents with atrial fibrillation (AF), and use of secondary stroke prevention strategies was determined, in order to understand the patterns of anticoagulant use in frail NH residents and to identify patient characteristics associated with warfarin use. In the second project the effect of oral antibiotics on anticoagulation outcomes, when prescribed concomitantly with warfarin, was determined, in order to provide evidence on the clinical significance of warfarin-antibiotic interactions in older adults. In the first project a cross-sectional analysis of the prescription and resident files from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey was done to determine the prevalence of AF and rates of use of warfarin and other anti-platelet agents, such as aspirin and clopidogrel. A multiple logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with warfarin use. In this sample of older NH residents, 13% of residents had a diagnosis of AF, with indications for warfarin use and no contraindications to warfarin. From these patients, 30% received anticoagulant therapy with warfarin and 23% of the remaining patients received either aspirin or clopidogrel, suggesting that more than 50% of residents with AF did not receive any form of anticoagulant therapy. Non-white race, history of bleeding, and use of anti-platelet medications were associated with reduced odds of receiving warfarin. The second project was a retrospective medical record review of older patients from an outpatient anticoagulation clinic at a Veterans Affairs medical center. Results of the repeated measures ANOVA suggested a significant increase in post-antibiotic INR values with fluoroquinolones, azithromycin and amoxicillin. In addition, the percentage of patients with warfarin dose adjustments was significantly greater with fluoroquinolones and azithromycin as compared to cephalexin. No bleeding events were reported for any of these patients. In conclusion, the results of the projects suggest that there is underuse of warfarin in NH settings. Furthermore, antibiotics may be safely prescribed with warfarin in older adults as long as the INR is monitored closely.

O presente estudo caracterizou o perfil farmacológico utilizado por pacientes submetidos a transplante de medula óssea (TMO), identificou as combinações existentes entre antimicrobianos potencialmente interativos e outros medicamentos decorrentes da co-administração e analisou, a partir das combinações identificadas, as interações medicamentosas (IM) potenciais quanto aos seguintes aspectos: tipo de IM, nível de severidade, evidência cientifica e implicações clínicas potenciais. Analisaram-se 70 prescrições de medicamentos de pacientes submetidos a TMO, que se encontraram na fase de condicionamento (dia –1), e que estiveram internados, no período de janeiro a junho de 2005, no Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Os dados relativos ao perfil terapêutico dos medicamentos foram coletados do prontuário do paciente, e aqueles acerca das IM foram obtidos por meio de consulta ao Drug Interactions Facts e Drug Interactions Handbook. Para análise dos dados utilizou-se estatística descritiva e analiinferencial sendo aplicada a regressão logística multivariada. Os resultados apontaram que a amostra foi composta em sua maioria por pacientes do sexo masculino (52,9%), com média de idade de 37 anos, com diagnósticos de linfomas (38,6%) e submetidos a transplantes do tipo autólogo (65,7%). Quanto ao perfil terapêutico observou-se 33 medicamentos distintos pertencentes a 8 classes terapêuticas com predomínio dos quimioterápicos (34%). Observou-se que 72,7% dos medicamentos apresentaram potencial para interação medicamentosa, sendo que 79,2% eram precipitadores. Quanto à análise das características farmacológicas que predispunham as IM verificou-se que 66,6% dos medicamentos afetavam o metabolismo hepático, inibindo-o (45,8%) ou estimulando-o (20,8%). Entre os quimioterápicos antimicrobianos 66,7% apresentaram características potencialmente interativas. Metade da amostra foi exposta a combinações de antimicrobianos potencialmente interativos (fluconazol, ciprofloxacina e sulfametoxazol+trimetoprima) e outros medicamentos; sendo identificadas 13 IM distintas, todas do tipo farmacocinética. A maioria das IM (92,3%) apresentou severidade moderada, com bom nível de evidência cientifica (61,6%), que poderiam resultar em elevação dos níveis séricos do agente combinado com o antimicrobiano (77,0%), com tempo de inicio dos efeitos demorado (61,5%). Houve associação estatisticamente significante entre ocorrência de IM e sexo (p<0,001); entre IM e faixa etária (p<0,001); entre IM e número de medicamentos (p<0,001) / The present study have characterized the pharmacologic profile used by patients who undergo bone marrow transplant (BMT); identified the existing combinations between the potentially interactive anti-microbial drugs and those deriving from co-administration; and analyzed, using identified combinations, the possible drug interactions (DI) in regard to the following aspects: type of DI, severity level, scientific evidence, and potential medical implications. There were analyzed 70 prescriptions medication for patients who underwent a BMT in the phase of conditioning (day – 1), and who were in the hospital within the period of January to June 2005, in the Heart Institute of the School of Medicine Hospital of the University of São Paulo (Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo). The data related to the medication therapy profile were collected from the patient handbook and the DI data were obtained by looking up in the Drug Interactions Facts and Drug Interactions Handbook. For data analysis, the description and inferential statistics were used and the multi-diverse logistic regression was applied. The results pointed out that the sample was primarily of patients of masculine gender (52,9%), with an average age of 37 years old, with lymphoma diagnosis (38,6%) and who were undergoing auto-transplants (65,7%). In regard to therapeutic profile, there were observed 33 different drugs from 8 therapy classes mainly of chemotherapy (34%). 72,7% of the medications showed to be potentially drug interactive, whereas 79,2% of them were precipitators. As for the pharmacology characteristic analysis that predisposes DI, it was verified that 66,6% of the medications affected the hepatic metabolism by inhibiting it (45,8%) or stimulating it (20,8%). Among the anti-microbial chemotherapy drugs, 66,7% presented potentially interactive characteristics. Half of the sample were exposed to anti-microbial combinations potentially interactive (fluconazole, ciprofloxacin e sulphamethoxazole+trimethoprim) and other medicaments; where 13 different DI were identified, all of them of the pharmacokinetic type. Most of the DI (92,3%) presented moderate severity, with good level of scientific evidence (61,6%), which could result in a higher level of serum of the agent when combined with the anti-microbial drugs (77,0%), with prolonged time for starting the effects (61,5%). There was a statistically significant association between the DI occurrence and sex (p<0,001); between DI and 40-49 year-old age-group (p<0,001); between DI and more than 4 number of medicaments (p<0,001)

Na prática clínica, é comum a associção de vários fármacos para o tratamento de patologias crônicas. Entretanto, agumas associações podem ter respostas indesejáveis para o paciente que resultam desde a ineficácia do tratamento medicamentoso até eventos adversos graves. As interações medicamentosas (IM) são exemplos de eventos adversos com medicamentos e para sua ocorrência contam-se fatores relacionados ao paciente, medicamento e com a prescrição. Quanto aos fatores de risco relacionados ao paciente, algumas populações, são mais vulneráveis as IM, tais como: idosos, pacientes submetidos à procedimentos cirúrgicos, em unidades de terapia intensiva e imunodeprimidos. Desta forma, esta investigação foi conduzida com o objetivo de analisar as potenciais interações medicamentosas em pacientes de uma Unidade de Terapia Intensiva do Hospital Universitário do Ceará. A análise dos prontuários ocorreu nos meses de julho e agosto de 2007. A população do estudo foi composta por todos os pacientes hospitalizados na UTI por mais de seis dias nos meses de junho de 2006 a junho de 2007. Após os critérios de inclusão, foram selecionados 102 pacientes, destes, 74 (72,5%) apresentaram 311 potenciais interações medicamentosas. Quanto as características sócio demográficas e clínicas dos pacientes, verificou-se que as IM ocorreram com maior frequências nos pacientes do sexo femino 47 (64%), na faixa etária dos 63 a 72 anos 17 (23%), com tempo de permanência na UTI por um periodo de seis a dez dias 42 (56,7%) e em portadores de doenças do aparelho circulatório 115 (25,2%). Quanto ao númemero de medicamentos, os pacientes que apresentaram interações medicamentosas receberam mais do que o dobro de medicamentos comparado aos pacientes sem IM. A Classe medicamentosa mais frequente no estudo foi a dos medicamentos do Aparelho digestivo e metabolismo 474 (25,7%), entretanto, as IM foram mais frequntes entre os medicamentos do Sistema Nervoso 124 (40%). Dentre estes destacam-se o midazolam 65 (20,8%) e o fentanil 21 (6,7%). Verificou-se que dos 1845 medicamentos analisados, 1140 (61,8%) foram aprazados para o mesmo horário, destes 844 (74%) apresentaram potencial para interações medicamentosas, sendo o horário das 6 horas o que concentrou maior número de medicamentos administrados. Dentre as vias de administração de medicamento, a via intravenosa foi a via mais freqüente no estudo 1151 (62,3%). Quanto as IM, verificou-se que a associação do midazolam com o fentanil 45 (14,5%) e midazolam com o omeprazol 19 (6,1%), foram as IM mais freqüentes no estudo. Quanto a classificação das IM identificou-se que: 150 (48,2%) apresentaram perfil farmacocinético; 173 (55,4%) de início demorado; 170 (54,7%) de moderada gravidade; 189 (60,6%) apresentaram boa documentação científica. O manejo clínico mais freqüente no estudo foi Observar sinais e sintomas com 221 (47,9%) das recomendações. Salienta-se que 80% das ações para minimizar ou até evitar os efeitos indesejáveis das IM podem ser realizados pelo enfermeiro. No entanto, para que as intervenções ocorram de fato é importante que o enfermeiro tenha conhecimento quanto aos mecanismos farmacológicos das interações medicamentosas, bem como seus fatores precipitantes. / In clinical practice, it is common to associate several drugs for the treatment of chronic pathologies. However, some associations may cause undesirable conditions that may result in inefficacy of drug therapies and serious adverse events. Drugs interaction is a kind of adverse event, whose occurrence has relation with factors involving characteristics of patients, drugs, and prescriptions. With respect to patients, some populations are more vulnerable to drugs interaction, such as that ones including aged people, people submitted to surgery procedures, people hospitalized in intensive care units. Thus, this investigation has analysed potential drugs interactions in an intensive care unit of the teaching hospital in Ceará-Brazil. The analysis of the prescription sheets have been made between July and August 2007, including all patients that stayed hospitalized for more than six days between June 2006 and July 2007. 102 patients have been selected after to apply the inclusion criteria. Among them, 74 (72,5%) have been exposed to potential drugs interactions. With respect to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, most of the drugs interaction has occurred with female 47 (64%), with age between 63 and 72 years old 17 (23%), with a hospitalized period in the range of six to ten days 42 (56,7%), and with patients with heart and circulatory failures 115 (25,2%). The patients exposed to potential drugs interaction have received twice more drugs than the other patients. The most frequent class of drugs in drugs interaction are those related to the digestive system and metabolism. However, drugs interactions have been more frequent between drugs for the Nervous System 124 (40%), such as midazolam 65 (20,8%) and fentanil 21 (6,7%). Among the 1845 evaluated drugs, 1140 (61,8%) have been scheduled to be applied administration. Among them, 844 (74%) have presented potential drugs interaction. Most of them have been scheduled to 6am. The intravenous way has been the most frequent form of administration of drugs in the study 1151 (62,3%). The most frequent associations have been midazolam with fentanil 45 (14,5%) and midazolam with omeprazol 19 (6,1%). With respect to classification of drugs interaction, 150 (48,2%) present farmacokinetic profile; 173 (55,4%) present delayed beginning; 170 (54,7%) present moderate severity; 189 (60,6%) have presented good scientific documentation. The most frequent clinical handling has been to observe signals and symptoms, with 221 (47,9%) recommendations. It is important to emphasize that 80% of preventive procedures to avoid undesirable effects of drugs interactions can be performed by nursing staff. For that, nurses must have knowledge about pharmacological mechanisms of drugs interactions, as well as their causes.

O crescimento do número de idosos na população é uma tendência mundial. Paralelamente a este fenômeno, surge a prevalência das doenças crônicas, dentre elas as Doenças Cardiovasculares (DCVs) que, muitas vezes, requerem internações hospitalares e tratamentos com múltiplos fármacos. A associação de vários fármacos pode acarretar eventos adversos como as interações medicamentosas (IM) que comprometem a eficácia do tratamento e a segurança do paciente. Uma medida que pode evitar algumas das IMs é o ajuste nos horários de administração dos medicamentos, realizado pelo enfermeiro no aprazamento dos horários, evitando a sobreposição de fármacos. Assim, objetivou-se analisar a ocorrência de sobreposições de medicamentos e de IMs potenciais, durante a internação de idosos com DCVs, na clínica médica, em enfermarias da especialidade cardiologia de um Hospital Universitário, do Estado da Paraíba, nos anos de 2010 e 2011. Trata-se de um estudo não experimental, retrospectivo, exploratório e realizado a partir da análise de dados de natureza secundária contidos nos prontuários dos idosos. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de junho a agosto de 2012. Foram estudados 135 idosos com diagnóstico de DCV, com média de idade de 71,6 anos para as mulheres e 70,7 para os homens, sendo 65% do sexo masculino. A média de dias de internação foi de 15,3 dias (dp=11,7). Em relação ao diagnóstico médico de DCV, 55,6% possuíam hipertensão arterial sistêmica e 40,8%, insuficiência cardíaca. Quanto ao diagnóstico de doenças não cardiovasculares, 42,2% possuíam diabetes mellitus e 23,0%, alguma doença pulmonar. A média de medicamentos prescritos foi de 14,8 (dp=5,8), sendo 59,4% de medicamentos não cardiovasculares e 40,6% de cardiovasculares; houve 59,7% de sobreposições de medicamentos cardiovasculares administrados com outros não cardiovasculares. Quanto aos horários de maiores sobreposições, 39,4% (média 10,3 e dp= 4,9) delas ocorreram no horário das 6 horas e 21,2% (média 5,6 e dp=3,6), no horário das 18 horas. Com relação às IMs, identificaram-se 143 pares de medicamentos com potenciais para interação entre os medicamentos cardiovasculares prescritos, 273 pares entre os medicamentos não cardiovasculares prescritos e 320 pares entre os medicamentos cardiovasculares prescritos e os não cardiovasculares prescritos. O número de sobreposições e o índice de IMs evidenciados neste estudo chamam a atenção para a necessidade de investimentos na capacitação dos profissionais da saúde, envolvidos neste processo, para o monitoramento mais efetivo da terapêutica medicamentosa, pois, mesmo que os idosos não apresentem reações adversas relacionadas às interações, o risco existirá, podendo comprometer sua segurança / The increasing number of elderly people in the population is a global trend. The prevalence of chronic illnesses appears in parallel with this phenomenon, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which often demand hospitalizations and treatments that involve multiple drugs. The association of different drugs can cause adverse events, such as drug interactions (DI), which compromise the effectiveness of treatment and patient safety. One measure that can avoid some of the DIs is the adjustment in the drug administration times, which nurses perform in drug scheduling to avoid drug overlapping. Hence, the objective was to analyze the occurrence of drug overlapping and potential DIs during the hospitalization of elderly patients with CVDs in the medical clinical area, at specialized cardiology wards of a University Hospital in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, in 2010 and 2011. A non-experimental, retrospective and exploratory study was undertaken, based on the analysis of secondary data in the elderly patients\' histories. The data were collected between June and August 2012. In total, 135 elderly diagnosed with CVD were studied, with a mean age of 71.6 years for women and 70.7 for men; 65% male. The mean number of hospitalization days was 15.3 (sd=11.7). As regards the medical diagnosis of CVD, 55.6% suffered from systemic arterial hypertension and 40.8% from heart failure. Regarding the diagnosis of non-cardiovascular diseases, 42.2% suffered from diabetes mellitus and 23.0% from a pulmonary disease. The mean number of prescribed drugs was 14.8 (sd=5.8), including 59.4% of non-cardiovascular and 40.6% of cardiovascular drugs; 59.7% of overlapping was found between cardiovascular drugs that were administered with other non-cardiovascular drugs. As regards the most overlapping time, 39.4% (mean 10.3 and sd=4.9) happened at 06h00 and 21.2% (mean 5.6 and sd=3.6) at 18h00. Concerning the DIs, 143 drug pairs with potential interaction between prescribed cardiovascular drugs were identified, as well as 273 pairs between prescribed non-cardiovascular drugs and 320 pairs between prescribed cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular drugs. The number of overlaps and the DI index evidenced in this study highlight the need for investments in the training of the health professionals involved in this process, with a view to the more effective monitoring of the medication treatment as, even if the elderly do not suffer from adverse reactions related to the interactions, the risk exists and can jeopardize their safety

O tratamento farmacológico em idosos representa grande desafio, principalmente relacionado às alterações no metabolismo, que resultam em modificações farmacocinéticas e farmacodinâmicas, aumentando a sensibilidade a muitos fármacos. Associado ao uso extensivo de medicamentos e a presença de comorbidades, o risco de interações medicamentosas aumenta substancialmente nesta população. Essa problemática destaca-se em idosos institucionalizados em hospitais psiquiátricos. Desse modo, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral analisar e classificar as interações medicamentosas (IM) potenciais do tipo fármaco-fármaco, em idosos institucionalizados em unidades de internação e lares abrigados de Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde. Trata-se de estudo de delineamento não experimental, descritivo correlacional e transversal. O estudo foi realizado a partir de dados secundários contidos nos prontuários dos idosos com transtornos psiquiátricos e neuropsiquiátricos que foram internados em um Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde estadual nos anos de 2005 a 2014. Foram verificados todos os medicamentos prescritos na admissão do paciente, na mediana da internação e na última prescrição. Para coleta de dados foi utilizado um instrumento adaptado de Reis (2009). Para análise dos dados, foi utilizada a análise descritiva e a regressão logística múltipla bruta e ajustada. A maioria dos idosos era do sexo feminino (61,7%), com idade de 60 a 69 anos (54,3%), com diagnóstico psiquiátrico e clínico concomitantes (72,3%) e em uso de 5 a 10 medicamentos (68,1%). Os fármacos utilizados para o Sistema Nervoso foram os mais prescritos. Verificou-se que 67,0%, 74,5% e 80,8% dos pacientes apresentaram IM potenciais na admissão, mediana da internação e última prescrição, respectivamente. Foi detectado um total de 1064 IM potenciais nos três momentos investigados e constatou-se a média de aproximadamente cinco IM potenciais nas prescrições por paciente. Houve elevada porcentagem de IM potenciais graves e contraindicadas. No modelo de regressão logística, realizado para identificar os preditores de IM, no momento da admissão dos idosos, contribuíram de forma significativa a idade de 60 a 69 anos (OR=7,9), a polifarmácia (OR=16,6) e o uso de medicamentos para o aparelho cardiovascular (OR=11,3) e para o aparelho respiratório (OR=16,4). Na mediana da internação, foram preditores de IM potenciais o uso de medicamentos que atuam no sistema nervoso (OR=7,4) e polifarmácia (OR=4,9). Na última prescrição, apenas a polifarmácia foi preditor para ocorrência de IM potencial (OR=30,1), indicando que a segurança do paciente no uso de medicamentos permaneceu comprometida. Os resultados desta investigação mostraram o comprometimento da segurança dos idosos no que se refere ao potencial para IM. Estratégias como a integração da equipe multidisciplinar, a reconciliação medicamentosa e a atuação do enfermeiro na avaliação do processo medicamentoso do idoso são necessárias para o cuidado seguro e de qualidade / Pharmacological treatment in elderly represents a great challenge, mainly related to changes in metabolism that result in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes, increasing sensitivity to many medications. Associated with the extensive use of medication and the presence of comorbidities, the risk of drug interactions increases substantially in this population. This problem stands out in institutionalized elderly in psychiatric hospitals. Thus, this study aimed to analyze and classify potential drug-drug interactions (DDI), in institutionalized elderly in inpatient units and sheltered homes in a Center of Comprehensive Health Care. It\'s a not experimental, descriptive correlational and transversal study. The study was conducted from secondary data in the medical records of elderly patients with psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders that have been admitted to a Center of Comprehensive Health Care from the years 2005 to 2014. We checked all drugs prescription at the admission of hospitalization, at median of stay and at the last prescription. For data collection was used an adapted instrument of Reis (2009). For data analysis, we used the descriptive analysis and multiple logistic regression. The majority seniors were female (61.7%) aged from 60 to 69 years (54.3%), with psychiatric and clinical diagnosis concomitant (72.3%) and in use of 5 to 10 drugs (68.1%). The most prescribed drugs were those used to the nervous system. It was found that 67.0%, 74.5% and 80.8% of patients had potential DDI at admission, at median of stay and at the last prescription, respectively. It was detected a total of 1064 potential IM in the three investigated moments and found to average approximately five potential DI requirements for the patient. There was a high percentage of serious and contraindicated potencial DDI. In the logistic regression model, performed to identify predictors of DDI at the time of admission of the elderly, the age 60-69 years (OR=7.9), polypharmacy (OR=16.6) and use of drugs for the cardiovascular system (OR=11.3) and the respiratory system (OR=16.4) contributed significantly to potential DDI. At the median of stay were predictors of potential DDI the use of drugs that operate on the nervous system (OR=7.4) and polypharmacy (OR=4.9). In the last prescription, only polypharmacy was predictor of potential DDI occurrence (OR=30.1), indicating that patient safety in medication use remained compromised. The results of this investigation showed the impairment of the elderly safety regarding potential for drug interactions. Strategies such as the integration of the multidisciplinary team, the medication reconciliation and the work of nurses in assessing the elderly drug\'s process are necessary for a safe and a qualitied care

Echinacea is an herbal supplement commonly used as an immune system stimulant to prevent infections, such as the common cold or flu. Echinacea has been documented as a cyctochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 inhibitor in vitro, but no formal studies have been conducted in humans. Etoposide is a cytotoxic, topoisomerase II inhibitor, chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of lung cancer. Etoposide is primarily metabolized by CYP 3A4. We report the first possible drug–herbal interaction between Echinacea and etoposide. A 61-year-old gentleman newly diagnosed with nonsmall cell lung cancer began concurrent chemoradiation with cisplatin and etoposide. He was admitted to the hospital on day 8 of his first cycle and found to be thrombocytopenic. His platelet count eventually reached a nadir of 16 × 103/L, requiring platelet transfusion support. Upon admission, it was discovered he was taking Echinacea, which was discontinued. He received his next cycle of chemotherapy without taking Echinacea. His platelet count decreased to a nadir of 44 × 103/L, but he did not require platelet transfusions. Echinacea likely contributed to this patient's profound thrombocytopenia and should be avoided in patients receiving etoposide and possibly other chemotherapeutic drugs that are CYP 3A4 substrates.

No description available.