Drug interactions among patients with hypertension taking angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors in an Indonesian hospital

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the drug interactions associated with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for treating hypertension at Karya Bhakti Pratiwi Hospital between July and December 2016. Methods: This was an analytical, descriptive, cross-sectional study based on the prescription and medical record data of hospitalized patients treated with an ACE inhibitor and one or more other drugs. Data were included by purposive sampling. Results: The final analysis was conducted with 120 prescriptions from 71 patients. We found that ACE inhibitors were associated with 139 potential interactions with other drugs in 75 prescriptions (53.96%); of these, 52 were major interactions and 87 were moderate interactions. The Mann- Whitney U-test confirmed that the potential drug interactions were significantly associated with polypharmacy (p<0.05), but the Chi-square test showed no association with either gender or pathophysiology (p>0.05). Finally, the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed no significant relationship between age and potential drug interactions (p>0.05). Conclusion: The final analysis was conducted with 120 prescriptions from 71 patients. We found that ACE inhibitors were associated with 139 potential interactions with other drugs in 75 prescriptions (53.96%); of these, 52 were major interactions and 87 were moderate interactions. The Mann-Whitney U-test confirmed that the potential drug interactions were significantly associated with polypharmacy (p<0.05), but the Chi-square test showed no association with either gender or pathophysiology (p>0.05). Finally, the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed no significant relationship between age and potential drug interactions (p>0.05).