title: [Admissions of elderly to French emergency departments related to adverse drug events].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the characteristics of adverse drug events (ADE) causing emergency medical admissions in the elderly.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from two prospective cross sectional studies with similar experimental design which were carried out in seven French emergency departments in 1999 and 2003. The proportion of ADE leading to admission, their severity and preventability were assessed in patients aged > or =70 (group A) and compared to those of patients < 70 years (group B).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of a total of 2907 patients, 1158 (39.8%) were > or =70 years of age. Among these, 17.1% were admitted as a result of an ADE vs. 13.2% in group B (p = 0.004). ADE appeared to be more severe in group A than in group B. The part of preventable ADE did not significantly differ between the two groups (48.9% vs. 43.7%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ADE are a common preventable cause of unplanned admissions, especially in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Accueil des Urgences, Centre Hospitalier d'Agen, Agen, France. albert.trinh-duc@wanadoo.fr
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trinh-Duc
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doucet
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bannwarth
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Trombert-Paviot
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carpentier
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouget
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Queneau
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D005602:France; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*