Potential drug-drug interactions among hospitalised TB patients

BACKGROUND: Hospitalised TB patients are at height-ened risk for developing drug-drug interactions (DDIs) due to overlapping CYP450 enzyme and/or drug transporter biotransformation of anti-TB drugs and co-medications given for treating TB-associated comor-bidities. We aimed to compare the occurrence, character-isation and determinants of database identified potential DDIs (pDDIs) associated with first-line anti-TB drugs and other co-medications using a subscription and free access drug information database. METHOD: This was a single-centre retrospective study to assess pDDIs between first-line anti-TB drugs and other medications for comorbidities among hospitalised TB patients using IBM Micromedexw and Drugs.com. RESULTS: On multivariate regression analysis, hospi-talised TB patients with comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus, HIV infection and hypertension, longer hospi-talisation, and patients administered with more than seven drugs during their hospital stay were associated with increased risk for the occurrence of pDDIs. Significant discrepancies were observed in the detection and severity of pDDIs between IBM Micromedex and Drugs.com. CONCLUSION: We recommend using free access drug information database to a subscription drug informa-tion database in drug interaction screening protocols in clinics for enhanced identification of pDDIs and reducing monetary burden in resource-limited set-tings.