Pharmacists Must Be Aware of Polypharmacy Risk in Patients With Long COVID
Henry Ukachukwu Michael, PhD, discusses the importance of optimizing medication utilization in patients with long COVID.
In a recent report published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, researchers from the Research Institute of McGill University Health Center set out to describe medication use patterns among patients with long COVID and estimate the prevalence of polypharmacy, potential drug–drug interactions, and anticholinergic and sedative burden.1
Among the 414 adult patients included in the study who self-identified with symptoms lasting over 12 weeks, the researchers found that of 154 who had been prescribed medications for long COVID, 11.7% were concurrently taking 5 or more. Among these patients, 25% were at risk of encountering at least 1 clinically significant potential drug–drug interaction.
The authors of the study concluded that the findings emphasize “…the imperative to optimize medication utilization and explore the consequences of medication burden on treatment outcomes and functional aspects among individuals with [long COVID].”
In an interview with Drug Topics, Henry Ukachukwu Michael, PhD, a multidisciplinary health outcomes researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine at McGill University and an author on the report, discussed what measures could help to mitigate harmful drug–drug interactions and avoid prescription cascades in patients with long COVID, and important takeaways from the study that pharmacists need to know.
“I think the awareness of [long COVID] is still growing,” Michael said. “I think pharmacists need to be aware there is a risk for polypharmacy. There should be vigilance for patients using multiple medications.”
READ MORE: COVID-19 Resource Center
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