Most drug side effects not due to error, study says
The vast majority of adverse drug events are side effects from a drug that was prescribed as intended, rather than being the result of a drug administration error, according to recent research.
In 2004, 1.2 million hospitalized patients experienced an adverse drug event, 90% of which were due to a side effect from a medication that was properly administered, according to the latest figures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD.1 AHRQ also found that just 8.6% of adverse drug events among hospitalized patients were because they were given the wrong drug or the wrong dose in the hospital or because they accidentally took an overdose or the wrong drug before entering the hospital.
Details of adverse events
These were some other findings:
- Average total hospital costs for patients who experienced drug side effects or other adverse drug events were $10,100, compared with an average cost of $7,600 for patients who didn't experience adverse drug events.
- The top three types of drugs involved in adverse drug events were corticosteroids, blood thinners, and anti-cancer drugs, mostly due to side effects from properly administered medications. For corticosteroids, 11.6% of hospital stays involved an adverse drug event, but just 0.4% of those events were due to wrong drugs or doses. For blood thinners, 9.4% of stays involved adverse drug events, 2.8% of which were due to wrong drugs of doses. For anti-cancer drugs and drugs used to prevent organ transplant rejection, 9.6% of stays involved adverse drugs events, 0.4% of which were due to wrong drugs or doses.
- Patients who suffered side effects from properly administered drugs tended to be older — an average of 64 years old — than patients who suffered from problems related to wrongly administered medication, who had an average age of 47. Nearly 60% of the patients who experienced an adverse drug event were women. (The complete report can be found online at www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb29.pdf.)
Reference
1. Elixhauser A, Owen P. Adverse Drug Events in U.S. Hospitals, 2004. Statistical Brief #29; April 2007:1-12.
The vast majority of adverse drug events are side effects from a drug that was prescribed as intended, rather than being the result of a drug administration error, according to recent research.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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