PHARMACOTHERAPY AND DRUG INTERACTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE– A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as either kidney damage or a decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of less than 60 mL/min/1.73m² for 3 or more months. The prevalence of CKD in India is 17.2% and it is substantially higher in hypertension, Diabetes, and vascular disease patients. Polypharmacy potentiates the risk of medication-related problems, such as drug-drug interactions and complex drug. Objective: To assess the pattern of prescription and drug interactions in chronic kidney disease patients. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study done from November 2022 to April 2023. The study was conducted on 60 in patients diagnosed with CKD in the Department of General Medicine in Victoria Hospital attached to BMCRI. The pattern of prescription was assessed in addition drug interactions were assessed by using Medscape – an online drug interactions checker. Results: The data demonstrated that most of the patients who were diagnosed with CKD were males (60%) and in the age group of less than 60 years (88%). 50% of patients belong to CKD stage IV followed by stage III (40%) and II (10%). The most common comorbidity associated with CKD was hypertension (63%) and T2DM (42%). Drug interactions in patients were divided into Severe (3.33%), Moderate (60%), Mild (66.66%), and No interaction (33.33%). Conclusion: The problem in CKD is not only an increase in the burden but progressive nature of CKD. Rational drug prescription is a difficult task because these patients are at higher risk of drug-related problems since they need complex therapeutic regimens.