Patients with adverse drug reactions attending an emergency department

Abstract

Aim To study the incidence and identify the economic impact of patients with adverse drug reactions attending the emergency department. Setting A metropolitan district hospital. Methods Over a one year period, all attendances were screened for adverse reactions in accordance with specific criteria. An economic assessment was conducted to ascertain the direct cost to the health care system of identified patient presentations. Results One hundred and one attendances (0.59%) were due to adverse drug reactions and adverse reactions accounted for 44 hospital admissions via the emergency department (0.88%). Using a clinical costing model, adverse drug reactions cost $162,000 per annum. Conclusion Patients with adverse drug reactions form a small percentage of attendances but are a significant cost to manage.

Evaluation of the Ability of Emergency Room Doctors at a French University Hospital Center to Identify Adverse Drug Events

“…Numerous studies have evaluated the frequency of ADEs in ER, and such events have been reported to occur in 0.6% to 28% of cases. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Moreover, ADEs that result in admission to the ER represent a substantial portion of the total healthcare expenditure. [12][13][14] To be able to properly treat an ADE, the treating physician needs to have extensive knowledge of drug interactions as well as the adverse events that arise with different drugs.…”