Objectives Prescription of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may be a source of potentially clinically relevant drug–drug interactions (DDIs) and related complications for elderly patients with complex polytherapy at discharge from hospital. The aim of the study was to identify, through the analysis of hospital discharge records, the co-administrations (PPIs + one or more drugs potentially generating DDIs) hypothetically leading to severe consequences according to the literature and online databases. Subsequently, alternatives to PPIs were evaluated for the treatment of gastric acidity and ulcers.

Methods The medical records of 1288 patients, discharged from a geriatric ward at the Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital in Turin from January 2012 to December 2013, were collected in an Excel database for analysis of DDIs using the literature and online sources such as Micromedex.

Results Six hundred and sixty-three of the 1288 clinical folders had a PPI prescription. A list of 18 drugs considered potentially hazardous and able to trigger a DDI when co-administrated with PPIs was drafted; the frequencies of the co-prescriptions of each PPI with one of the listed drugs were esomeprazole 65.38%, lansoprazole 52.87%, omeprazole 48.19% and pantoprazole 37.11%. An analysis of these co-prescriptions, according to Micromedex classification, gave a percentage of major interactions of 11.01% over 663 clinical folders including a PPI.

Conclusions This study provides a collection of potentially hazardous drug associations and helpful suggestions to improve the quality of prescriptions for elderly patients and strengthens the case for synergic work between doctors and pharmacists in the wards.