Table 3 Potentially serious drug-drug interactions in 1995 and 2010
From: The rising tide of polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions: population database analysis 1995–2010
1995 | 2010 | 2010 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. (%) of patients | No. (%) of patients | Age-sex standardised % of patients* | Age-sex standardised relative risk 2010 vs. 1995 (95% CI) | |
n = 301,019 | n = 311,881 | n = 311,881 | ||
All patients | 17,448 (5.8) | 40,689 (13.0) | 12.1 | 2.08 (2.04–2.12) |
No. of interactions | ||||
0 | 283,571 (94.2) | 271,192 (86.9) | 87.9 | 0.91 (0.91–0.91) |
1 | 13,051 (4.3) | 23,907 (7.7) | 7.1 | 2.41 (2.35–2.47) |
2 | 3,151 (1.0) | 9,324 (3.0) | 2.8 | 5.54 (5.25–5.85) |
3 | 814 (0.3) | 3,776 (1.2) | 1.1 | 7.03 (6.39–7.74) |
4+ | 432 (0.1) | 3,682 (1.2) | 1.1 | 13.8 (12.1–15.7) |
Any interaction involving drugs from BNF chapter | ||||
1 (gastrointestinal) | 197 (0.07) | 1,452 (0.47) | 0.42 | 6.30 (5.44–7.31) |
2 (cardiovascular) | 14,236 (4.7) | 34,124 (10.9) | 9.9 | 2.09 (2.05–2.13) |
3 (respiratory) | 863 (0.30) | 863 (0.28) | 0.26 | 0.84 (0.77–0.93) |
4 (central nervous system) | 3,489 (1.2) | 11,465 (3.7) | 3.4 | 2.93 (2.81–3.04) |
5 (infections) | 1,062 (0.37) | 1,526 (0.49) | 0.45 | 1.22 (1.13–1.32) |
6 (endocrine) | 688 (0.23) | 1,588 (0.51) | 0.47 | 2.00 (1.83–2.19) |
7 (O&G, and urinary tract) | 257 (0.09) | 2,516 (0.81) | 0.68 | 7.66 (6.75–8.69) |
8 (malignancy, immunosuppression) | 125 (0.04) | 207 (0.07) | 0.06 | 1.44 (1.15–1.79) |
9 (nutrition and blood) | 252 (0.09) | 62 (0.02) | 0.02 | 0.22 (0.16–0.29) |
10 (musculoskeletal) | 2,565 (0.87) | 4,717 (1.5) | 1.4 | 1.64 (1.56–1.72) |
11 (eye) | 21 (0.01) | 9 (0.003) | 0.003 | 0.38 (0.17–0.82) |
12 (ear, nose, and throat) | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
13 (skin) | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |