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Publication
Clinical Adverse Events in Elderly Hospitalized Patients in a Medical Ward - a Prospective Study
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Introduction: Studies to date describe between 3% to 50% of patients experiencing one or
more clinical adverse event (CAE) during their hospital admission and many preventable.
The aim of this prospective study was to determine the frequency of medical CAEs in a
medical ward. Also the study aimed to compare data between patient age groups and
determine the effect on length of hospital stay and mortality.
Methods: This is a prospective study, consulting patients’ electronic clinical notes over 6
months . Every week, all patient electronic processes were reviewed, and CAEs noted. The
episode was only noted if the episode was clearly labeled as a CAEs by the medical team in
the patient´s notes. If confounding factors were present, this episode was excluded. Patients
were grouped by age; compared in terms of demographics, comorbidities, diagnosis at
admission and readmission rate. Primary outcomes included mean length of stay and
mortality.
Results: 62 episodes were studied, 14.8% of those admitted to hospital experienced a CAE.
The most frequent adverse events included analytical alterations, anemia and blood loss,
infection and altered state of consciousness. The most commonly implicated therapies were
anticoagulants (23%) which lead to episodes of bleeding, anti-hypertensive and diuretics
(17%) immunosuppressive therapy (16%) beta blockers (1%) and insulin (1%). Mean
length of stay in hospital was 17 days in all groups, longer than the average length of stay of
this medical ward which is 11 days. Mortality rate within one year of hospitalization was
30% in total, again significantly higher than the 10% mortality rate calculated for the same
period on the ward.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that CAEs are still far too common, probably
underestimated, cause serious harm to patients and strains healthcare services further.
Description
Keywords
HCC MED Adverse Effects Inpatients Side Effects, Drug Complications
Citation
Elderly Health J 2020;6(1): 70-72
Publisher
Shaid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences & Health Services