Abstract
Purpose Hyperkalaemia due to potassium-increasing drug–
drug interactions (DDIs) is a clinically important adverse drug
event. The purpose of this study was to identify patient- and
physician-related risk factors for the development of
hyperkalaemia.
Methods The risk for adult patients hospitalised in the
University Hospital Zurich between 1 December 2009 and
31 December 2011 of developing hyperkalaemia was
correlated with patient characteristics, number, type and
duration of potassium-increasing DDIs and frequency of
serum potassium monitoring.
Results The 76,467 patients included in this study were
prescribed 8,413 potentially severe potassium-increasing
DDIs. Patient-related characteristics associated with the
development of hyperkalaemia were pulmonary allograft
[relative risk (RR) 5.1; p