Abstract

THE AIM of this research was to find out, through retrospective analysis, the rate of warfarin interacting drugs used in drug schemes for elderly (60+) patients.

METHODS. The study patients (n = 39) were selected from a general practice population (4500 patients). The inclusion criteria were age > 60 and warfarin treatment during 2007.

RESULTS. The average number of drugs used by these patients was 6.5. Sixty-six percent of the patients used interacting drugs and there were on average 2.6 potential interactions per patient. Six patients out of 39 had complications which could have been caused by drug interactions. Twenty-three patients out of 39 had international normalized ratio (INR) under 2.

CONCLUSIONS. The data of the preliminary study show that the quality of warfarin treatment in elderly patients needs improvement in terms of avoiding interacting drug prescription, better INR monitoring and recognition of adverse reactions.