Table 1.
US Emergency Department (ED) Visits for Adverse Drug Events (ADEs), 2013-2014a
| ED Visits for ADEs |
ED Visits for ADEs Resulting in Hospitalizationb |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case Characteristic | No. of Cases | National Estimate, % (95% CI)c |
No. of Cases Hospitalized |
National Estimate, % Hospitalized (95% CI)c |
| Patient age group, yd | ||||
| ≤5 | 5133 | 9.7 (7.7-11.6) | 846 | 10.5 (7.7-13.2) |
| 6-19 | 3452 | 6.8 (5.7-7.9) | 571 | 8.9 (5.4-12.4) |
| 20-34 | 5638 | 13.7 (12.4-15.0) | 667 | 10.2 (7.3-13.2) |
| 35-49 | 5928 | 14.3 (13.0-15.6) | 1230 | 18.5 (14.2-22.8) |
| 50-64 | 8797 | 21.0 (19.4-22.6) | 3003 | 31.4 (25.9-37.0) |
| 65-79 | 8266 | 21.1 (18.6-23.7) | 3563 | 41.1 (33.8-48.3) |
| ≥80 | 5370 | 13.4 (11.3-15.5) | 2718 | 47.5 (40.7-54.3) |
| Patient sex | ||||
| Female | 23 934 | 57.1 (55.6-58.7) | 6754 | 25.8 (21.1-30.4) |
| Male | 18 651 | 42.9 (41.3-44.4) | 5844 | 29.3 (23.6-35.1) |
| No. of implicated medications | ||||
| 1 | 35 142 | 83.8 (81.5-86.1) | 9716 | 25.7 (20.8-30.6) |
| ≥2 | 7443 | 16.2 (13.9-18.5) | 2882 | 35.7 (29.4-42.0) |
| Type ofADE | ||||
| Adverse effecte | 12 081 | 27.8 (24.9-30.7) | 3957 | 29.4 (23.2-35.5) |
| Allergic reaction (immunologically mediated effects) | 10 435 | 26.0 (23.5-28.6) | 1080 | 9.2 (6.3-12.0) |
| Supratherapeutic effect of a drug or ingestion of excess dose | 15 718 | 37.2 (34.7-39.6) | 6835 | 42.1 (35.6-48.7) |
| Secondary effectf | 835 | 2.0 (1.7-2.3) | 94 | 11.9 (8.5-15.3) |
| Unsupervised ingestion bya childg | 2604 | 4.9 (3.8-5.9) | 590 | 16.6 (12.4-20.7) |
| Vaccination reaction (anyadverse effect from a vaccine) | 912 | 2.2 (1.7-2.6) | 42 | 2.9 (1.6-4.3) |
| Documented medication errorh | ||||
| Yes | 4747 | 10.5 (8.8-12.2) | 1205 | 24.6 (19.3-29.9) |
| No | 37 838 | 89.5 (87.8-91.2) | 11393 | 27.6 (22.4-32.8) |
| Total | 42 585 | 100.0 | 12 598 | 27.3 (22.2-32.4) |
Data are from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases included ED visits for ADEs from prescription or over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, homeopathic products, and vaccines. Visits to the ED involving drug withdrawal, drug therapeutic failures, occupational exposures, intentional self-harm, and recreational drug use or abuse were excluded. Adverse events from treatments received in the ED, follow-up visits for previously diagnosed ADEs, and deaths in or en route to the ED also were excluded.
Defined as hospital admission, observation status admission, or transfer to another facility. Discharge disposition missing for 1 case.
Calculated from statistical weighting of cases based on the sample design.
Missing for 1 case.
Defined as undesirable pharmacological or idiosyncratic effects at recommended doses.
Refers to other adverse effects secondary to drug administration such as choking or injection site reactions.
Refers to children aged 10 years or younger ingesting or being found with medications without caregiver supervision.
Refers to drug prescribing, dispensing, or administration errors (eg, wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong duration, wrong route, expired drug, or old prescription), administration of another individual's medication, or accidental needle stick in individuals aged 11 years or older.