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Potential Drug Interactions in Medication Regimens of Adults who have Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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Abstract

Polypharmacy is a risk factor for drug interactions (DI). Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at increased risk for polypharmacy and as such increased risk for potential DIs. The objectives of this study were to determine the number of potential DIs present in medication regimens of adults with IDD as well as factors associated with the number of potential DIs. Community-based cross sectional study. Retrospective analysis of data obtained from the cross-sectional National Core Indicators survey in the state of Oklahoma in the United States. 598 respondents were included. The number of medications prescribed, the number of potential DIs, and the association between participant factors with the total number of potential DIs present. 598 adults with IDD were studied. In this sample, over 80% had at least one DI present in their current medication regimen. There were 8.9 ± 9.7 potential DIs in the medication regimens, with 29.8% of participants having 12 or more. Greater number of medications was significantly associated with a greater number of potential drug interactions. People with IDD who take medications are exposed to potential drug interactions. Health care professionals must have clear goals and endpoints in mind when prescribing medications for this vulnerable population. Potential drug interactions are common in the medication regimens of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Polypharmacy is associated with a greater number of potential drug interactions. Health care professionals must have clear goals and endpoints in mind when prescribing medications for adults with IDD to minimize the occurrence of drug interactions.

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Funding

No funding was used to conduct this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Steven R. Erickson

  2. Oklahoma State University, 233 Human Sciences, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Jennifer L. Jones & Kami L. Gallus

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, 2512 S 7th St., 1st floor, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Amy Esler

  4. Institute On Community Integration, University of Minnesota, 150 Pillsbury Dr SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    James Houseworth

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  1. Steven R. Erickson
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  2. Jennifer L. Jones
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  3. Kami L. Gallus
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  4. Amy Esler
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  5. James Houseworth
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Each author of this manuscript was involved with idea generation, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript. Data acquisition was made possible by Jennifer Jones.

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Correspondence to Steven R. Erickson.

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Data collection procedures were approved by the human subjects review board (IRB) at Oklahoma State University and a data use agreement was used between Oklahoma State University and University of Michigan for secondary data analysis in the current study.

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This study used existing dataset that was deidentified. It did not require informed consent from persons in the dataset.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 X-Level Drug Interactions*
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Table 4 D-Level Drug Interactions
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Erickson, S.R., Jones, J.L., Gallus, K.L. et al. Potential Drug Interactions in Medication Regimens of Adults who have Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. J Dev Phys Disabil 34, 795–828 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-021-09824-7

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