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Elderly At Risk Of Hospitalizations From a Few Key Medications

Close to 100,000 senior adults are hospitalized each year for adverse drug events, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a majority of those emergency hospitalizations are caused by a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications.

The results of this study show the need to focus safety efforts on these few medicines that can cause serious harm to improve health care for older Americans, said Dr. Dan Budnitz, director of CDC’s Medication Safety Program.

Interestingly enough, medications that are currently categorized as high-risk or potentially harmful for older patients were rarely identified as a cause for emergency hospitalizations in this study.

“Blood thinners and diabetes medicines often require blood testing and dosing changes, but these are critical medicines for older adults with certain medical conditions,” Budnitz said in a news release.

While these medications should continue to be used, Budnitz said doctors and patients must work together to manage them safely.

The study used data collected from a nationally representative sample of 58 hospitals that participatead in CDC's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project between 2007 and 2009.

Nearly half or 48 percent of these hospitalizations occurred among adults 80 or older, and two–thirds or 66 percent were due to overdoses, or to situations where patients may have taken the correct amount of medication but the drug had more than the intended effect on the patient's body.

Four medications, used by themselves or in combination with others, made up two–thirds of the emergency hospitalizations:

• Warfarin, used to prevent blood clots, accounted for 33 percent, or 33,171 emergency hospitalizations
• Insulins, which is used to control blood sugar in people who have diabetes, accounted for 14 percent.
• Antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin or clopidogrel, which prevent blood clots, accounted for 13 percent.
• Oral hypoglycemic agents, which are diabetes medications taken by mouth, made up 11 percent.

This study identified medication safety issues that offer the best opportunity for decreasing patient harm and hospitalizations. Researchers say national monitoring of adverse drug events must be continued as new drugs are approved and are prescribed to patients.

“Policies and improvement programs to promote safe use of medications that most commonly cause serious, measureable harms can increase patient safety and reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and costs at the same time,” said Dr. Patrick Conway, chief medical officer of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and director of CMS' Office of Clinical Standards and Quality. “We are working across the federal government to address common preventable adverse drug events through medication management, care transition programs, and other initiatives.”

To reduce the risk of emergency hospitalizations due to medication, researcher suggest:

• Before leaving the pharmacy (or when a drug arrives in the mail) be sure your name is on the container's label.
• Be sure the right medication name and the correct strength is on the label..
• Report back to your doctor for blood tests when told to do so, as blood thinners and diabetes medications require blood testing for dose adjustment.
• Know the side effects linked to each drug and ask which ones warrant doctor consultation.
• Don’t take other medications without first consulting your doctor.

For more on medical safety issues, see the library of articles by Daytona Beach nursing home injury attorney

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