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Preventable adverse drug events: Descriptive epidemiology
Stephanie A Woo1, Amber Cragg2, Maeve E Wickham2,3
1Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
|October 22, 2019
Summary
Over 64% of adverse drug events are preventable, particularly in patients with mental health conditions and diabetes. Improving patient instructions and monitoring can reduce these events.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacovigilance
- Patient Safety
- Clinical Pharmacy
Background:
- Adverse drug events (ADEs) pose a significant threat to patient safety.
- Identifying preventable ADEs is crucial for improving healthcare outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify preventable adverse drug events (ADEs).
- To determine factors contributing to the development of preventable ADEs.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective chart review of 1,356 ADEs in 1,234 emergency department patients.
- Independent chart review by a clinical pharmacist and physician to assess ADE preventability.
- Multivariable logistic regression to identify patient characteristics and contributing factors.
Main Results:
- 64.1% of ADEs were deemed probably or definitely preventable.
- Patients with mental health diagnoses and diabetes were more likely to experience preventable ADEs.
- Commonly implicated medications included warfarin, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, insulin, and aspirin; key contributing factors were inadequate patient instructions, monitoring, and follow-up.
Conclusions:
- Patients with mental health conditions and diabetes require enhanced monitoring for ADEs.
- Addressing inadequate patient instructions, monitoring, and follow-up is essential to reduce preventable ADEs.
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