New tool can assess drug interaction factors
New tool can assess drug interaction factors
`DIPS' scale can help assess causality
Clinicians, authors, and medical journals are able to use a newly developed Drug Interaction Probability Scale (DIPS) to objectively assess causality in drug interaction cases. The scale was developed by recognized drug interaction experts John Horn, Pharm.D., Philip Hansten, Pharm.D., and Lingtak-Neander Chan, Pharm.D., of the University of Washington, and was published in the April 2007 issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
The authors say the DIPS uses a series of yes/no questions to yield a score estimating the likelihood that an interaction occurred. The scale consists of 10 questions on specific patient factors, the pharmacologic properties of the two suspected drugs, and the possible role of other drugs the patient is taking. Points are added or subtracted based on the answers given. Affirmative responses generally add to the probability that the observed event was caused by an interaction, while negative responses generally reduce the probability.
They say one of the most challenging aspects of presenting or evaluating a case report of an adverse drug reaction is assessing causation for the observed events. In 1981, earlier researchers presented a scale to estimate the probability that an adverse reaction was caused by the drug in question. Also, a number of other methods to evaluate adverse drug reaction causality have been proposed. But those scales were not intended to apply to interactions between two drugs, and no standard for objectively assessing drug interactions has emerged until now.
The resulting DIPS probability score is not absolute, the authors caution, and may vary among patients because each will respond differently and have different confounders. But the DIPS may help identify potential interactions and guide their further study. Using the scale, Horn and his colleagues say, can assist clinicians in understanding the significance of a drug interaction in patient care and stimulate research on drug interactions to improve medication safety.
Clinicians, authors, and medical journals are able to use a newly developed Drug Interaction Probability Scale (DIPS) to objectively assess causality in drug interaction cases. The scale was developed by recognized drug interaction experts John Horn, Pharm.D., Philip Hansten, Pharm.D., and Lingtak-Neander Chan, Pharm.D., of the University of Washington, and was published in the April 2007 issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.Subscribe Now for Access
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