Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug events by Korean regional pharmacovigilance centers.
OBJECTIVE
Patterns of prescriptions are markedly influenced by regional disease entities, medical education, culture, economic status, and available pharmaceutical companies. Features of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may vary in different countries. In this study, we analyzed the causative drugs and clinical manifestations of spontaneously reported ADRs in Korea.


METHODS
Six Korean Regional Pharmacovigilance Centers collected 1418 cases of spontaneously reported adverse drug events (ADEs) by doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, and the clinical features and causative drugs were evaluated. The data were collected from general hospitals (76.5%), primary clinics, and pharmacies (23.5%).


RESULTS
Based upon the World Health Organization (WHO)-Uppsala Monitoring Center criteria (certain-13.7%, probable-46.1%, possible-32.1%), 91.9% of the collected events were suspected to be ADRs and 15.8% of patients experienced serious ADRs. The most prevalent causative drugs were antibiotics (31.6%), followed by contrast dyes (14.0%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (11.1%), anti-psychotics (5.4%), anti-convulsants (5.2%), cardiovascular agents (4.8%), anti-neoplastics (4.6%), and opiates and non-opiate pain killers (3.5%). Among the antibiotics, cephalosporins (8.1%) were the most common, followed by anti-tuberculosis agents (5.7%), quinolones (4.0%), vancomycin (3.1%), and penicillin (2.8%). The most common side effect was skin manifestations, which were seen in 42% of the patients, followed by neurologic manifestations (14%), gastrointestinal involvements (12.9%), generalized reactions (9.4%), and respiratory involvements (4.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
Antibiotics, contrast dyes, and NSAIDs were the most common causative drugs for ADRs, which reflects the prescription pattern and the prevalence of diseases in Korea. These data may be useful in establishing a Korean pharmacovigilance system.
Shin
Yoo Seob
YS
Korean Association of Regional Pharmacovigilance Centers, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Yong-Won
YW
Choi
Young Hwa
YH
Park
Byungjoo
B
Jee
Young Koo
YK
Choi
Sung-Kyu
SK
Kim
Eung-Gyu
EG
Park
Jung-Won
JW
Hong
Chein-Soo
CS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000009:adverse effects; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D003287:Contrast Media