Neurological syndromes associated with drug use. Frequency and characterisation

The need for safe health care, in which the care and treatment of the patient does not cause any injuries in addition to those already arising from their baseline disease, has led to the present study. Our objective has been to determine the frequency and describe the neurological syndromes attributable to drugs, their preventability and the levels of medical care involved.

Observational study. Cohort of subjects referred from Primary and Specialized Care between December 2008 and January 2010 due to neurological symptoms attributable to drugs, and previously known neurology patients who began to have symptoms other than those of the baseline disease, also caused by drugs. The notifications were recorded in a questionnaire. Frequency distributions, central tendency measurements, X(2) or Fisher tests and non-parametric tests were performed.

The prevalence of adverse neurological events was 0.586% of the total sample. Of the 105 patients selected, the most frequent adverse events were: 25.7%, akinetic-rigid syndrome, 18.1%, dyskinetic syndrome, 11.4% neuro-psychiatric symptoms, and 10.5% confusional syndrome. The most commonly recorded pharmacological groups were, in decreasing order: anti-epileptic, dopaminergic, antidepressant, neuroleptic, antivertiginous and prokinetic drugs. We describe the most susceptible population and the statistically significant relationships between the presence of certain pharmacological groups and neurological syndromes.

The low prevalence detected may be due to the study design, although adverse neurological events accounted for 2.84% of the admissions to a Neurology Unit. Understanding the epidemiology should help to identify the safest approaches, apply them correctly to the population at a higher risk, and reduce healthcare needs and consumption of medical resources.