Prevalence of alcohol-drug interactions in community-dwelling older patients with polypharmacy
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Santina L. Gorsen
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Els Mehuys
Abstract
Objectives
Alcohol and medication use are increasingly prevalent in the older population. Concurrent use of alcohol and alcohol-interactive (AI) medication can lead to significant adverse consequences.
Methods
Three reference works were used to create an explicit list of drug substances for which information about the interaction with alcohol was available in at least one of them. Additional information was extracted from the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC). The first aim was to generate a list of 256 substances with standardized advice regarding the concurrent use of each drug with alcohol. The second aim was to observe the prevalence of potential drug–alcohol-interactions. The list was applied to a database containing information about alcohol and medication use of 1,016 community-dwelling older patients (≥70 years) with polypharmacy.
Results
About half of the sample population reported to consume alcohol at least once a week. Around 22% were classified as frequent drinkers (5–7 days/week) and 11% as heavier drinkers (>7 units/week). Ninety-three percent alcohol consumers in our sample took at least one chronic drug that potentially interacts with alcohol and 42% used at least one chronic drug for which alcohol use is considered contraindicated.
Conclusions
We developed an explicit list of potentially drug–alcohol-interactions in older adults, with standardized handling advice. We observed that prevalence of potential drug–alcohol-interactions is substantial in community-dwelling older patients with polypharmacy.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
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Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
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Ethical approval: The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review. The study was approved by independent Committees for Medical Ethics affiliated with UZ Gent (for Flanders) and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (for Wallonia). All participants provided written consent. The STROBE standardized reporting guidelines for cross-sectional studies were followed.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/dmpt-2020-0183).
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Oxy+ (arthrospira) and its medicinal importance: an appraisal
- Original Articles
- In vitro inhibitory effects of glucosamine, chondroitin and diacerein on human hepatic CYP2D6
- Efficacy of Majoon-e-Seer Alvi Khan in dyslipidemia: a single blind randomized standard controlled clinical trial
- Prevalence of alcohol-drug interactions in community-dwelling older patients with polypharmacy
- Evaluation of the need for pharmacogenomics testing among physicians in the West Bank of Palestine
- Habitual khat chewing alters urinary inorganic profile in adult healthy males
- Trichostatin A sensitizes hepatoma cells to Taxol more than 5-Aza-dC and dexamethasone
- Ocimum gratissimum leaf extract ameliorates phenylhydrazine-induced anaemia and toxicity in Wistar rats
- Lactobacillus plantarum mitigates sexual-reproductive deficits by modulating insulin receptor expression in the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis of hyperinsulinemic mice
- Consumption of Ashtanga Ghrita (clarified cow butter added with herb extracts) improves cognitive dysfunction induced by scopolamine in rats via regulation of acetylcholinesterase activity and oxidative stress
- Letter to the Editor
- Fatal thiopurine toxicity: pre-emptive testing of NUDT15 415C>T polymorphism may be life saving in South Asian population
