Adverse Drug Reactions in a Population of Hospital

Authors: Balamurugan Tangiisuran J Graham Davies Juliet E Wright Chakravarthi Rajkumar

Publish Date: 2012/12/23

Volume: 29, Issue: 8, Pages: 669-679

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Abstract

The aims of the study were to determine the rates types severity and preventability of adverse drug reactions ADRs in a hospitalized population of very elderly patients over 80 years of age and to identify factors that predispose the very elderly to an ADRAn observational study was conducted in patients over 80 years of age admitted to four care of the elderly wards in Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust The main outcome measures were the incidence of ADRs during inpatient stay in older patients and the identification of the major drug classes involved and the risk factors contributing to the occurrence of ADRsA total of 560 very elderly patients were recruited 74 of whom experienced one or more ADR 83 in total representing an incidence of 132 95 CI 104 16 Sixtythree percent of all ADRs were considered preventable with 57 classified as serious and three as life threatening The drug classes frequently implicated in ADRs were cardiovascular agents 34 analgesic medications 18 and antidiabetic drugs 10 Five variables were established as independent predictors of ADRs number of medications use of hypoglycaemic agents history of hyperlipidaemia raised white cell count on admission and length of stayThe ADR incidence reported in this population was no greater than that seen in other studies for both general medical patients and those elderly patients over 65 years of age A significant proportion of ADRs were preventable and this suggests that closer monitoring of highrisk elderly patients is needed to address this problemContributors All authors had full access to all the data including statistical reports and tables in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis Study concept and design BT JGD and CR acquisition of data BT analysis and interpretation of data BT JGD and CR drafting of the manuscript BT JGD CR and JEW critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content JGD CR and JEW statistical analysis BT JGD and CR administrative technical and material support JGD CR and JEW and study supervision BT JGD CR and JEWCompeting interests All authors declare that they have received no support from any organization for the submitted work have no financial relationship with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work and have no relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work

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