Abstract:

Introduction: Drug-drug interaction occurs when the effects of a drug are modified when another drug or food is taken concomitantly. This interaction results into to reduced, null or increased effect of a drug. Drug-drug interaction outcome can be beneficial or harmful due to drug toxicity or inhibition of drug’s pharmacological action.

Methodology: A cross sectional study conducted from May to June 2021 by using a self-administered questionnaire. The study involved 90 community Pharmacy dispensers in Arusha Urban District.

Results: A total of 90 Community Pharmacy dispensers participated in the study where female was 53 (59%) and male were 36 (41%). Generally, 19 (21%) dispensers had good knowledge, whereas 30 (33%) and 41 (45%) dispensers had adequate and poor knowledge on drug-drug interaction respectively. Also, 35 (38.9%) dispensers had good drug-drug interaction management by providing instructions to patients based on, when not to use two drugs concomitantly as well as when to separate the time of drug use after taking the first drug, while 55 (61.1%) dispensers had poor drug-drug interaction management.

Conclusion and Recommendation: The finding of the study indicates the incompetent dispensing of drugs among dispensers and also poor knowledge on drug pairs with potential interactions. Education on drug-drug interactions and sources of identifying drug pairs with potential interaction need to be provided regularly to the dispensers so as to increase their knowledge and enhance good practice.