Am J Health-Syst Pharm
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Order Full text via Infotrieve
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schneitman-McIntire, O
Right arrow Articles by Toy, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schneitman-McIntire, O
Right arrow Articles by Toy, W.
American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Vol 53, Issue 12, 1416-1422
Copyright © 1996 by American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

Articles

Medication misadventures resulting in emergency department visits at and HMO medical center

O Schneitman-McIntire, TA Farnen, N Gordon, J Chan, and WA Toy


Medication misadventures resulting in visits to the emergency department of a health maintenance organization (HMO) were studied. The records of patients who visited the emergency department at a California HMO between August 1992 and August 1993 were evaluated for evidence of medication misadventures brought to the department. The definition of misadventure included noncompliance and inappropriate prescribing but excluded intentional overdoses and substance abuse. If it seemed probable that a misadventure occurred, a pharmacist interviewed the patient by telephone. During the 12-month study, 1,074 (1.7%) of 62,216 visits to the emergency department were due to medication misadventures. The patients who had had a misadventure were predominantly female (62%); 38% were 15-44 years of age and 33% were 65 or older. Interviews were possible with 962 patients. Only 30.6% of the patients had a good understanding of the potential adverse effects of their regimen, and only 29.0% had a good understanding of the potential interactions. Misadventures were most often due to allergies or medication underuse among patients < or = 14 years of age and to adverse effects and inappropriate dosage in elderly patients. Of the 1,074 misadventures, 152 (14.1%) resulted in hospital admission. Three areas of particular concern were identified (1) noncompliance with respiratory agents in the young, (2) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory use leading to hospital admission, and (3) the frequency of problems in the elderly. Medication misadventures accounted for 1.7% of emergency department visits and 1.0% of hospital admissions at an HMO medical center.
 



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am J Health Syst PharmHome page
W. N. Kelly and T. D. Rucker
Compelling features of a safe medication-use system.
Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., August 1, 2006; 63(15): 1461 - 1468.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J Health Syst PharmHome page
D. C. Malone, D. S. Hutchins, H. Haupert, P. Hansten, B. Duncan, R. C. Van Bergen, S. L. Solomon, and R. B. Lipton
Assessment of potential drug-drug interactions with a prescription claims database
Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., October 1, 2005; 62(19): 1983 - 1991.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JAMAHome page
K. A. Phillips, D. L. Veenstra, E. Oren, J. K. Lee, and W. Sadee
Potential Role of Pharmacogenomics in Reducing Adverse Drug Reactions: A Systematic Review
JAMA, November 14, 2001; 286(18): 2270 - 2279.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.