Polypharmacy and Drug Interactions in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a great impact on health systems. We compared evolution, polypharmacy, and potential drug-drug interactions (P-DDIs) in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 hospitalizations during first wave of pandemic. Prescriptions for hospitalized patients ≥ 18 years (COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 rooms) between April and September 2020 were included. The computerized medical decision support system SIMDA and the physician order entry system Hdc.DrApp.la were used. Patients in COVID-19 rooms were divided into detectable and non-detectable, according to real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Number of drugs, prescribed on day 1, after day 1, and total; polypharmacy, excessive polypharmacy, and P-DDIs were compared. 1,623 admissions were evaluated: 881 COVID-19, 538 detectable and 343 non-detectable, and 742 non-COVID-19. Mortality was 15% in COVID-19 and 13% in non-COVID-19 (RR [non-COVID-19 vs. COVID-19]: 0.84 [95% CI] [0.66-1.07]). In COVID-19, mortality was 19% in detectable and 9% in non-detectable (RR: 2.07 [1.42-3.00]). Average number of drugs was 4.54/patient (SD ± 3.06) in COVID-19 and 5.92/patient (±3.24) in non-COVID-19 (p<0.001) on day 1 and 5.57/patient (±3.93) in COVID-19 and 9.17/patient (±5.27) in non-COVID-19 (p<0.001) throughout the hospitalization. 45% received polypharmacy in COVID-19 and 62% in non-COVID-19 (RR: 1.38 [1.25-1.51]) and excessive polypharmacy 7% in COVID-19 and 14% in non-COVID-19 (RR: 2.09 [1.54-2.83]). The frequency of total P-DDIs was 0.31/patient (±0.67) in COVID-19 and 0.40/patient (±0.94) in non-COVID-19 (p=0.022). Hospitalizations in the COVID-19 setting are associated with less use of drugs, less polypharmacy and less P-DDIs. Detectable patients had higher mortality.

Development and Implementation of the Hdc.DrApp.la and SIMDA Programs to Reduce Polypharmacy and Drug-drug Interactions in Patients Hospitalized in Internal Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated polypharmacy and possible drug-drug interactions (p-DDIs) in hospitalized patients before and after using the SIMDA Computerized Medical Decision Support System (CMDSS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included the prescriptions of ≥ 18 years hospitalized patients in the internal medicine department. We developed and implemented the Hdc.DrApp Physician Order Entry System and the CMDSS SIMDA, which detects p-DDIs and signals dosage adjustment based on renal function. To evaluate the impact of the CMDSS, we made a comparison Before (Survey) / After (Intervention): Survey between Oct/22/2019, and Mar/21/2020, and Intervention between Apr/4/2020 and Sep/3/2020. We analyze prescriptions from the first day and after the first day. We compared the number of drugs, polypharmacy (≥ 5 drugs), excessive polypharmacy (≥ 10 drugs), and p-DDIs. We evaluated differences with the X2 test, Yates correction, Fisher's exact test, ANOVA, and post hoc tests according to their characteristics. RESULTS: We evaluated 2,834 admissions: Survey 1,211 and Intervention 1,623. The number of drugs per patient was 6.02 (± 3.20) in Survey and 5.17 (± 3.22) in Intervention (p < 0.001) on the first day and 9.68 (± 5.60) in Survey and 7.22 (± 4.93) in Intervention (p < 0.001) throughout the hospitalization. Polypharmacy was present in 64% of the Survey and 53% of Interventions (RR: 0.83 (0.78-0.88); and excessive polypharmacy in 14% of the Survey and 10% of Intervention (RR: 0.73, 0.60-0.90). The frequency of total p-DDIs was 1.91/patient (± 4.11) in Survey and 0.35 (± 0.81) in the Intervention (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We developed and implemented the Hdc.DrApp and SIMDA systems that were easy to use and allowed us to quantify and reduce polypharmacy and p-DDIs.

Serious Games: A Concise Overview on What They Are and Their Potential Applications to Healthcare.

Younger generations are extensive users of digital devices; these technologies have always existed and have always been a part of their lives. Video games are a big part of their digital experience. User-centered design is an approach to designing systems informed by scientific knowledge of how people think, act, and coordinate to accomplish their goals. There is an emerging field of intervention research looking into using these techniques to produce video games that can be applied to healthcare. Games with the purpose of improving an individual's knowledge, skills, or attitudes in the "real" world are called "Serious Games". Before doctors and patients can consider using Serious Games as a useful solution for a health care-related problem, it is important that they first are aware of them, have a basic understanding of what they are, and what, if any, claims on their effectiveness exist. In order to bridge that gap, we have produced this concise overview to introduce physicians to the subject at hand.