Prevention of adverse drug interactions.
1 The awareness and recognition of adverse interactions between drugs by prescribers is low. 2 A 6-month prospective study on patients on long-term outpatient anticoagulant therapy in the Grampian area has been carried out to evaluate a simple and cheap warning system. 3 The practitioners of patients in the test group were issued with warning labels which showed drugs known to interact. A reduction in the initiation of prescriptions for potentially interacting drugs was shown between the test and control groups (no warning labels). 4 The 140 practitioners who completed the study found the system to be convenient and useful. Extension to other high-risk drugs with the potential to interact with other drugs is planned. This system has the advantage of being drug and patient-orientated whereas lists of drug interactions or drug discs require more conscious effort by the prescriber.
D001463:Barbiturates / Q000009:adverse effects; D004347:Drug Interactions; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014859:Warfarin / Q000009:adverse effects
D001463:Barbiturates; D014859:Warfarin