Why report days with a potential interaction as well as patients with one?

Two measures of a medication overlap

A study in a maternal intensive care unit classified potential interactions from medication records. About one-third of patients had a combination classified as a severe potential interaction at least once. The paper also tracked the portion of the ICU stay during which a severe potential combination was present.

Duration can change the interpretation of the same patient count

A patient with one day of potential overlap and a patient with several days each count once in a patient-level percentage. A duration measure helps distinguish those patterns. The database classification describes the possibility of an interaction based on the drugs involved. It does not establish that the predicted clinical effect occurred.

Reconstruct the exposure window

For a case review, identify whether each drug was ordered or administered, the dose times, the periods of overlap and the clinical findings during those periods. Then distinguish the evidence for the possibility of an interaction from the evidence that it contributed to a specific event.

Source paper

Pessoa et al., einstein (São Paulo) (2019) · Full text