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Lack of Awareness of Community-Acquired Adverse Drug Reactions Upon Hospital Admission

Dimensions and Consequences of a Dilemma

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Abstract

Objective: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a well-known cause of hospital admission. Nevertheless a quantitative estimate of the preventability of and physicians’ awareness of these reactions is lacking.

Study Design and Methods: Using intensive bedside and computer-assisted drug surveillance methods a 13-month prospective pharmacoepidemiological survey was carried out on patients admitted to two medical wards of the Erlangen-Nuremberg University Hospital in Erlangen, Germany. This study aimed to define the incidence of preventable and unavoidable ADRs. In addition we investigated the awareness of the physicians to ADRs at the time of admission and the rate of contraindicated pre-admission prescriptions.

Results: In 78 (8.5%) of 915 (10.9%) admissions a total of 102 (42 preventable) community-acquired ADRs were detected on admission. In 45 (3.8%) of the admissions ADRs led directly to hospitalisation. 56.9% of the ADRs were not recognised by the attending physician on admission. Marked correlation was found between the awareness of ADRs and their probability and severity scores (r = 0.85 and r = 0.94, respectively; p < 0.05). The most frequently detected ADRs were due to direct toxicity and secondary pharmacological effects. Idiosyncratic reactions were often missed and 18.6% of all drugs prescribed prior to admission were contraindicated. Leading the list were diuretics, analgesics/NSAIDs and antipsychotics/sedatives.

Conclusions: Awareness of existing ADRs on hospital admission and appropriate prescribing prior to hospital admission require attention. Early detection of ADRs on hospital admission can be achieved by the use of computer support systems. Many ADRs could be prevented by adhering to indications and contraindications.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from BMBF No. EC 9403/7, ELAN No. 98.07.30–1 and Marohnstiftung No. Bru/2001. The authors would like to thank Dr Stephan Rietbrock for his advice and encouragement throughout this study and his statistical analysis. The authors have provided no information on conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Ulmenweg 18, Erlangen, D-91054, Germany

    Harald Dormann, Arnim Geise, Thomas H. Schneider & Eckhart G. Hahn

  2. Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Manfred Criegee-Rieck, Antje Neubert, Tobias Egger, Sabine Krebs & Kay Brune

  3. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

    Micha Levy

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  1. Harald Dormann
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  2. Manfred Criegee-Rieck
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  3. Antje Neubert
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  4. Tobias Egger
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  5. Arnim Geise
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  6. Sabine Krebs
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  7. Thomas H. Schneider
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  8. Micha Levy
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  9. Eckhart G. Hahn
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  10. Kay Brune
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Correspondence to Harald Dormann.

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Dormann, H., Criegee-Rieck, M., Neubert, A. et al. Lack of Awareness of Community-Acquired Adverse Drug Reactions Upon Hospital Admission. Drug-Safety 26, 353–362 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002018-200326050-00004

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