Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2022 May 17;23(1):30.
doi: 10.1186/s40360-022-00570-w.

Incidence of adverse drug events in patients hospitalized in the medical wards of a teaching referral hospital in Ethiopia: a prospective observational study

Teketel Alemu Ersulo  1 , Mengist Awoke Yizengaw  2   3 , Behailu Terefe Tesfaye  4   5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Incidence of adverse drug events in patients hospitalized in the medical wards of a teaching referral hospital in Ethiopia: a prospective observational study

Teketel Alemu Ersulo et al. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. .

Abstract

Background: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are an important public health problem with considerable clinical and economic costs. However there are limited studies of ADE incidence in adult inpatients in low-income countries, particularly in Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the incidence of adverse drug events and associated factors in patients hospitalized in the medical wards of Wolaita Sodo University teaching referral hospital (WSUTRH).

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted involving 240 patients admitted to the medical wards of WSUTRH. A checklist was used for data collection, while standard tools were employed for assessing the probability and characterization of ADEs. A multifaceted approach involving daily chart review, patient interview, attendance at ward rounds and/or meetings, and staff reports were employed to collect the data. To identify factors independently associated with ADEs, logistic regression analysis was conducted using Stata version 15.

Results: Patients were followed from ward admission to discharge, accounting for 2200 patient-days of hospital stay. Overall, 976 medications were ordered during the hospital stay. Sixty-four ADEs were identified with an incidence of approximately 27 per 100 admissions and 29 per 1000 patient days. Of the total ADEs, 59% were preventable. Regarding the severity, 2% of the ADEs were severe, while 54% were moderate. The risk of ADEs increased with longer hospital stay (LOHS) (p = 0.021), in patients with blood and immune disease diagnosis (p = 0.001), use of cardiovascular medicines (p = 0.028), and an increase in the number of medications prescribed (p = 0.021).

Conclusions: In this study, ADEs were identified in about one-quarter of the participants. Longer hospital stays, blood and immune diseases, cardiovascular medicines use, and multiple medication use had increased the likelihood of ADE occurrences. The majority of the ADEs were preventable, indicating the existence of a window of opportunity to ensure patient safety.

Keywords: Adults; Medication; Predictors; Undesirable events.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of patients approached and included in the study, February 2021 to July 2021
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Class of medications accountable for ADEs, WSUTRH, February 2021 to July 2021. *NSAIDs, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO . Patient Safety. 2019.
    1. Network PS . Medication errors and adverse drug events. 2019.
    1. Donaldson MS, Corrigan JM, Kohn LT. To err is human: building a safer health system: National Academies Press; 2000. - PubMed
    1. Bates DW, Cullen DJ, Laird N, Petersen LA, Small SD, Servi D, et al. Incidence of adverse drug events and potential adverse drug events: implications for prevention. JAMA J Am Med Assoc. 1995;274(1):29–34. doi: 10.1001/jama.1995.03530010043033. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Davies EC, Green CF, Taylor S, Williamson PR, Mottram DR, Pirmohamed M. Adverse drug reactions in hospital in-patients: a prospective analysis of 3695 patient-episodes. Plos One. 2009;4(2):1–7. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types