Compatibility of medication with PRISCUS criteria and identification of drug interactions in a large cohort of patients with COPD

Publication date: April 2018 Source:Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 49 Author(s): Jana Graf, Tanja Lucke, Ronald Herrera, Henrik Watz, Rolf Holle, Claus Vogelmeier, Joachim H. Ficker, Rudolf A. Jörres Patients with COPD are often of advanced age and have a high number of medications due to their lung disease and comorbidities. Thus they are at risk for unwanted effects from drugs, either due to age or due to interactions between drugs. These issues are not clarified. We therefore assessed the number of medications and potential adverse effects in a large cohort of patients with COPD. The analysis was performed in 2741 patients of the German COPD cohort COSYCONET, using baseline data (visit 1) and follow-up data after about 1.5 years (visit 3). Spirometric GOLD grades 1–4 were found in 8/35/32/9% of patients and GOLD groups ABCD in 7/25/4/48% of patients, while the remaining patients (n = 450, 16.4%) could not be classified according to GOLD criteria. The compatibility of medication with age was evaluated via the PRISCUS list, drug interactions via the AiD clinic system, whereby only drug combinations occurring in at least 10 patients were considered (nine unwanted interactions, one wanted interaction). The median numbers of medications were 5 or more in all patient categories, among them 3 or more non-respiratory medications. In the total population there were 153 patients (10.2%) aged ≥65 years who had any medication of the PRISCUS li...
Source: Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research