Incidence and predictors of all and preventable adverse drug reactions in frail elderly persons after hospital stay.
BACKGROUND
Adverse drug reactions (ADR) negatively impact life quality and are sometimes fatal. This study examines the incidence and predictors of all and preventable ADRs in frail elderly persons after hospital discharge, a highly vulnerable but rarely studied population.


METHODS
The design was a prospective cohort study involving 808 frail elderly persons who were discharged from 11 Veteran Affairs hospitals to outpatient care. The main outcome measure was number of ADRs per patient as determined by blinded geriatrician and geropharmacist pairs using Naranjo's ADR algorithm. For all ADRs (possible, probable, or definite), preventability was assessed. Discordances were resolved by consensus conferences.


RESULTS
Overall, 33% of patients had one or more ADRs for a rate of 1.92 per 1000 person-days of follow-up. The rate for preventable ADRs was 0.71 per 1000 person-days of follow-up. Independent risk factors for all ADRs were number of medications (adjusted [Adj.] hazard ratio [HR], 1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.10 per medication), use of warfarin (Adj. HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.22-1.87), and (marginally) the use of benzodiazepines (Adj. HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.95-1.58). Counterintuitively, use of sedatives and/or hypnotics was inversely related to ADR risk (Adj. HR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.04-0.57). Similar trends were seen for number of medications and warfarin use as predictors of preventable ADRs.


CONCLUSIONS
ADRs are very common in frail elderly persons after hospital stay, and polypharmacy and warfarin use consistently increase the risk of ADRs.
Hanlon
Joseph T
JT
Department of Medicine (Geriatrics), School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, and Center for Health Equity Research, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, PA 15213, USA. hanlonj@dom.pitt.edu
Pieper
Carl F
CF
Hajjar
Emily R
ER
Sloane
Richard J
RJ
Lindblad
Catherine I
CI
Ruby
Christine M
CM
Schmader
Kenneth E
KE
D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010351:Patient Discharge; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data