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Report indicates adverse drug events still safety threat

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, July 7, 2005

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A new report on the danger of adverse drug events (ADEs) indicates ADEs still pose a significant threat to patient safety.

The report analyzed a nationally represented sample of visits to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), physician offices, and emergency departments. It identified cases in which adverse drug effects (VADEs), an indication that an ADE occurred and was serious enough to require care, were the first-listed cause of injury.

The results showed that in 2001 there were 4.3 million VADEs in the United States, an average of 15 patient visits per 1,000 U.S residents. At the facilities studied where VADEs were treated, HOPDs had a rate of 3.4 VADEs per 1,000 visits. Physician offices and emergency departments had 3.7 and 7.3 VADEs per 1,000 visits, respectively.

The study also indicated that VADEs were lower in children younger than 15, and higher in the elderly aged 65-74 than in adults aged 25-44, and were more frequent in females than in males.

The report, Ambulatory Care Visits for Treating Adverse Drug Effects in the United States, 1995-2001, is in the July issue of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

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