Study on the prevalence and clinical significance of drug interactions in cardiovascular patients in a community pharmacy

Cardiovascular diseases require long-term pharmacotherapy and are often associated with polypharmacy, which increases the risk of drug interactions that may influence treatment efficacy and patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and statistical significance of drug interactions among patients with cardiovascular diseases in a community pharmacy setting. A prospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted over 6 months in a community pharmacy set-up. A total of 150 prescriptions with cardiovascular medicines were analyzed. Potential drug–drug, drug–food, and drug–gene interactions were identified using the Lexi drug interaction database. Statistical analysis was performed using a one-sample proportion test in SPSS software. A total of 2,216 potential drug interactions were identified, comprising 1,556 drug–drug interactions, 334 drug–food interactions, and 326 drug–gene interactions. Statistical analysis of drug–gene interactions showed that aspirin–CYP2C9 interaction was observed in 22.5% of cases, clopidogrel–CYP2C19 interaction in 73.6% of cases, atorvastatin–ABCG2/SLCO1B1 interaction in 37.3% of cases, and rosuvastatin–SLCO1B1 interaction in 38.9% of cases. Since all p-values were greater than 0.05, there was no statistically significant difference between the observed project data and the values reported in reference clinical studies. Drug–drug and drug–gene interactions have been identified as important factors that may reduce the efficacy of cardiovascular medications, potentially contributing to the recent rise in premature cardiovascular disease deaths, highlighting the importance of routine prescription screening, genomic screening and pharmacist intervention to enhance medication safety and optimize therapeutic outcomes.