Abstract
To investigate drug interaction, 23,536 prescriptions published for 1 year were investigated with 'Drug Interaction Fact 2002'. Dispensing records and a database file written in a local general hospital in South Korea were used as a sample. The number of total cases of drug interaction was 3,238 ($13.76\%$) out of 23,536 prescriptions. The incidence of drug interaction in each prescription the children, the adults, and the elderly were $1.33\%,\;10.97\%,\;25.50\%$, respectively. The incidences of drug interaction per each prescription were $22.03\%,\;20.52\%,\;0.51\%,\;and\;0.36\%$ in neurosurgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, and orthopedics, respectively. In neurosurgery and internal medicine, risk-high drugs of drug interaction such as antihypertensive drugs, diuretics, and cimetidine were used very often in elderly. In this paper, several suggestions to reduce drug interaction were postulated with regard to the usage of analgesics, non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and antibiotics.
