Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol.
2010 Sep;30(3):216-221.
Adverse Drug Reactions in Elderly Inpatients: Comparison with Younger Patients
Abstract
- BACKGROUND
There have been few reports on the characteristics of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in elderly patients among the Korean population.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the characteristics of ADRs in elderly patients compared with those in younger ones. METHOD: ADRs were collected from a spontaneous reporting system at our university hospital in 2008. Characteristics including underlying diseases, duration of hospitalization, clinical manifestations, culprit drugs and number of concomitant medications were compared between the young (<65 years) and elderly (> or =65 years) groups. RESULT: A total of 528 ADRs occurred in 513 patients, and 120 ADRs (22.7%) occurred in 116 elderly patients. Their mean age was 71.6 years. Antibiotics (45.8%) were the most common culprit drugs. The prevalence of ADRs due to cardiovascular drugs was significantly higher in the elderly group (9.2%) than in the young group (2.9%, P=0.003). The most prevalent clinical types were skin manifestations (40.5%), gastrointestinal abnormalities (28.4%) and systemic reactions (23.5%) in both groups. Renal function abnormalities were significantly more prevalent in the elderly group (4.2%) than in the young group (0.5%, P=0.008). The mean number of concomitant medications was significantly higher in the elderly group (6.5+/-4.6) than in the young group (1.9+/-3.9).
CONCLUSION
For the early detection of ADRs in elderly patients, close monitoring of cardiovascular drug use and renal function are recommended.
