[Incidence rate of adverse drug effects in a hospital emergency unit and its associated factors]. / Incidencia de resultados negativos de medicación en un servicio de urgencias hospitalario y factores asociados.

INTRODUCTION: Adverse drug effects (ADEs) are the reason for 0.86% to 38.2% of hospital emergency admissions, and a large percentage of them are avoidable. Rational prescription and pharmacotherapy monitoring decrease the appearance of such health problems. METHOD: Study performed in a tertiary hospital emergency unit with patients selected using a two-phase random sample. The information was obtained from a validated questionnaire and from the clinical history. The data were grouped according to the following cause-effect schema: 1-Potential risk factors for an ADE. 2-Effects likely to be caused by drugs. 3-Consequences of ADEs. 4-Potential confounding factors. The information obtained was evaluated by four independent evaluators using the Dader method. RESULTS: 840 patients were included in the study, and 33% of them came to the emergency unit due to an ADE. ADEs were more frequently observed in female patients, those with higher drug consumption, older patients, those with an underlying illness and in those from underprivileged backgrounds. The factors determining risk of an ADE are the quantity of drugs consumed, sex and the health practices index. DISCUSSION: One third of hospital emergency admissions were due to ADEs, and these were associated with the same factors found in other studies (number of drugs consumed, female sex, age and social background). In addition, we observed that ADEs are predominant in patients with low values on the health practices index, and in those with underlying illnesses.

[Identification of quality problems in the clinical information to hospital emergency department patients]. / Identificación de problemas de calidad en la información clínica a usuarios de un servicio de Urgencias hospitalario.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the comprehension level of the information provided to patients and relatives attending an emergency department and to know their satisfaction degree. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed. The selection of study patients was made by means of a simple randomized sampling and the total of patients was 213. At discharge, these patients and their relatives answered a written, anonymous questionnaire. To evaluate the comprehension of the information provided, the questionnaire responses were checked against the clinical records. RESULTS: The self-identification of the health care providers, information on the estimated length of stay at the ED, the explanation of complementary tests and their results significantly determined the satisfaction score on the provided information, which for the patients was 6.3 on a 10-point scale. The percentages of patients who were knowledgeable of the performed tests, diagnosis, and administered treatment were 61.5%, 50.7%, and 35.2%, respectively. Understanding the diagnosis and the administered treatment differed according to age (p < 0.001) and the assimilation of the information on recommendations at patients's discharge differed according to the education level (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The self-identification of health care personnel would allow for a better bi-directional information flow. Given the socio-cultural characteristics of our population, the information provided should be clear and concise. The transmission of information to most emergency department users would be best achieved with previous information of the workflow at the emergency department in the form of booklets at the entrance, and also establishing protocols for the informed consent on different diagnostic and treatment techniques inherent to emergency care.