Adverse Drug Events Detected by Clinical Pharmacists in an Emergency Department: A Prospective Monocentric Observational Study

OBJECTIVES

Adverse drug events (ADEs) are a major public health issue in hospitals. They are difficult to detect because of incomplete or unavailable medication history. In this study, we aimed to assess the rate and characteristics of ADEs identified by pharmacists in an emergency department (ED) to identify factors associated with ADEs.

METHODS

In this prospective observational study, we included consecutive adult patients presenting to the ED of a French 2600-bed tertiary care university hospital from November 2011 to April 2015. Clinical pharmacists conducted structured interviews and collected the medication history to detect ADEs (i.e., injuries resulting directly or indirectly from adverse drug reactions and noncompliance to medication prescriptions). Unsure ADE cases were reviewed by an expert committee. Relations between patient characteristics, type of ED visit, and ADE risk were analyzed using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Among the 8275 included patients, 1299 (15.7%) presented to the ED with an ADE. The major ADE symptoms were bleeding, endocrine problems, and neurologic disorders. Moreover, ADEs led to the ED visit, hospitalization, and death in 87%, 49.3%, and 2.2% of cases, respectively. Adverse drug event risk was independently associated with male sex, ED visit for neurological symptoms, visit to the ED critical care unit, or ED short stay hospitalization unit, use of blood, anti-infective, antineoplastic, and immunomodulating drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

This study improves the knowledge about ADE characteristics and on the patients at risk of ADE. This could help ED teams to better identify and manage ADEs and to improve treatment quality and safety.

Impact of a medico-pharmaceutical follow-up and an optimized communication between hospital and community on the readmission to the emergency department for an adverse drug event: URGEIM, study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Adverse drug events (ADE) represent one of the main causes of admission to emergency department (ED). Their detection, documentation, and reporting are essential to avoid readmission.

We hypothesize that a pharmacist-initiated multidisciplinary transition of care program combining ED pharmacist contribution and medications’ data transfer between inpatient and outpatient caregivers will reduce emergency visits related to ADE

Method/design

This is a prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial. The primary aim of the study is 6-month ED readmission related to the same ADE. Three hundred forty-six adult patients with an ADE detected by a binomial pharmacist-physician will be recruited from the ED of an University Hospital and will be randomized in two groups: [1] experimental group (multidisciplinary transition of care program and medications’ data transfer between inpatient and outpatient caregivers) and [2] control group (usual care). Patients will be followed up over a period of 6 months. Endpoints will be carried out blindly of the randomization arm. The primary endpoint is the rate of patients who had at least one readmission in the ED for the same reason at 6 months (data collected during a phone call with the patient and the general practitioner). Trials registered NCT03725046.

Discussion

The trial results will have implications for the role of the clinical pharmacist in an emergency department. If successful, the intervention could be considered for implementation across other hospitals.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.govNCT03725046. Registered on 30 October 2018

Impact of medication characteristics and adverse drug events on hospital admission after an emergency department visit: Prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a problem for the delivery of adequate and timely emergency care. To improve patient flow and the admission process, the quick prediction of a patient's need for admission is crucial. We aimed to investigate the variables associated with hospitalisation after an ED visit, with a particular focus on the variables related to medication.

METHODS

This prospective study was conducted from 2011 to 2018 in subacute medical ED of a French University Hospital. Specialised EDs (paediatric, gynaecologic, head and neck and psychiatric) and the outpatient unit of the ED were not included. Participation in this study was proposed to all adult patients who underwent a medication history interview with a pharmacist. Pharmacists conducted structured interviews for the completion of the medication history and the detection of adverse drug events (ADE). Relations between patient characteristics and hospitalisation were analysed using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Among the 14 511 included patients, 5972 (41.2%) were hospitalised including 69 deaths. In total, 7458 patients (51.4%) took more than 5 medications and 2846 patients (19.6%) had an ADE detected during the ED visit. In hospitalised patients, bleeding (32.2%) and metabolic disorders (16.8%) were the most observed ADE symptoms. Variables associated with increased hospital admission included 2 demographic variables (age, male gender), 4 clinical variables (renal and hepatic failures, alcohol addiction, ED visit for respiratory reason) and 6 medication-related variables (medications >5, use of blood, systemic anti-infective, metabolism and antineoplastic/immunomodulating medications and ADE).

CONCLUSION

We identified variables associated with hospitalisation including drug-related variables. These results point out the importance and the relevance of collecting medication data in a subacute medical ED (study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03442010).

[Involvement of addictovigilance in emergency department for the detection of abuse and dependence cases: 3 years of experience]

INTRODUCTION

Due to the increase of hospitalization at emergency department (ED) related to psychoactive substances use (PSU), the addictovigilance center of Montpellier has been integrated into the URGEIM program for the detection of iatrogenic events at the ED. The objective of the present work was to analyze spontaneous reports (SR) collected via the URGEIM program.

METHODS

Analysis of spontaneous reports related to PSU at the ED of the Montpellier University Hospital, collected through the URGEIM program, between January 2014 and December 2016.

RESULTS

During the study period, 160 SR were collected through the URGEIM program on 1118 SR collected by the Addictovigilance center over the period: 40SR/342 in 2014, 46 SR/303 in 2015 and 74 SR/473 in 2016. Most patients were male (70%) and the mean age at admission was 33 years old. A total of 240 psychoactive substances were identified with 160 illicit substances (66.6%) [cocaine 38.1%, cannabis 30.6%] and 80 medications (33.3%) [buprenorphine 22.5%, benzodiazepines 20% and methadone 18.8%]. Mental and behavioral disorders (20.0%), general health problems associated with substance use (17.5%), cardiovascular diseases (13.1%) and infectious diseases (12.5%) were the main reported effects. The duration of emergency stay was inferior to 12hours in 63.1% of cases and greater than 24hours in 12.5% of cases. In 69.4% of cases, the event was considered as serious. The outcome was unknown for 6.9% of patients.

CONCLUSION

The number of SR from ED has increased over the study period, with the notification of serious and worrying cases, and the possibility of setting up actions. The deployment of addictovigilance within clinical services is a significant factor for notification and quality of care.