english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2007 > Adverse drug effects: poor follow-up in hospital too

Spotlight: Archives

Every month, the subjects in Prescrire’s Spotlight.

2007 : 1 | 30 | 60 | 90

Adverse drug effects:
poor follow-up in hospital too

All too often, adverse effects are ignored in hospitals.

Grenoble's regional pharmacovigilance centre has examined drugs’ adverse effects on hospital patients.

This study reveals a serious lack of information on adverse effects in hospital wards. According to the study, when adverse effects were identified in hospital emergency rooms, 80% were noted in the hospitalisation report, but only 43% were noted when the patient was not admitted to hospital. When the patient was transferred from Accident & Emergency to another department, 30% of the adverse effects were omitted. And on leaving hospital, only 34% of the adverse effects were explicitly reported in the discharge letter.

If adverse effects are identified and treated, they can be prevented from recurring. But records need to be kept and information on adverse effects shared. Improvements both inside and outside hospital are needed.

©Prescrire November 2007

Source: "Effets indésirables médicamenteux négligés en cours d'hospitalisation" Rev Prescrire 2007 ; 27 (289) : 833

- More articles in Prescrire's "Spotlight"...