Mitigating the burden of adverse drug reactions in older inpatients: short commentary

Abstract

Studies have consistently identified older age as a predictor of adverse drug reaction (ADR) and the related adverse. The safety data collected during the premarketing phase is lacking due to the omission of distinctive groups of patients including the elderly. In the US, approximately 100,000 emergency hospital admissions of older adults, 65 years of age or older, was attributed to ADRs every year. Among the hospitalized older patients, significant proportion (15% to 35%) incurs an ADR during their hospital stay. The culprit medications, however, were largely among the commonly used ones rather than medications typically identified as high-risk or inappropriate. A significant increase in elderly population was apparent over the past decades.