Complications of Adverse Drug Reactions may include hospitalization, increased hospital stays and health care expenditures, morbidity, and death. The incidence of Adverse Drug Reactions varies by type of health care setting (e.g., ambulatory clinic, hospital, nursing home). In a cohort of older Medicare enrollees, the rate of Adverse Drug Reactions was 50.1 per 1,000 person years. In long-term care facilities, the rates of Adverse Drug Reactions were reported as 1.9 to 9.8 per 100 resident-months. Adverse Drug Reactions are a common cause of hospital admission of older adults and were responsible for 6% to 24% of all hospital admissions. Of all Adverse Drug Reactions, 23% to 28% were categorized as serious.

Approximately one quarter to one half of Adverse Drug Reactions are considered to be preventable. Errors are most likely to occur at the time of prescribing a medication or during monitoring of therapy. Prescribing errors include choosing an inappropriate medication, prescribing a medication that interacts with another medication in the individual’s regimen, and prescribing a drug in the face of an established drug allergy. Errors in monitoring of therapy may include failing to obtain necessary laboratory values to monitor drug therapy and not responding promptly to signs, symptoms, or laboratory evidence of drug toxicity.

Many researchers have attempted to identify risk factors for Adverse Drug Reactions, an endeavor that has been disappointing. The most persistent risk factor for Adverse Drug Reactions is use of multiple medications; thus, it is important that patients be maintained on the fewest number of medications needed to manage their health conditions. Researchers have not found Adverse Drug Reactions to vary substantially according to age or sex. Several factors are important to keep in consideration to minimize Adverse Drug Reactions, even though they have not been identified as independent risk factors. (more…)

Many studies have shown that antibiotic drugs are often prescribed unnecessary or inappropriate. Drugs for elderly (geriatric drugs) has certainly contributed to the growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics in the elderly. As a group, elderly patients in hospitals and long-term care facilities are the main beneficiaries of antibiotics. One consequence is the promotion of the strain and the distribution of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics. (more…)

Parents are always conscious about their kid’s health related matter, thus they take children’s immunization as a serious issue. Children, particularly babies should be protected by taking immunization due to their bodies are easily infected with virus. However, parents often forgot that they also should take adult immunization shot. Grown up adults also need immunizations and keep it up-to-date to hinder any adult diseases or chronic disease which may be caught by their body. It is thus important that adult immunization should not take lightly and it necessary to always keep up-to-date. (more…)