Of the 283 patients (between the ages of 65 and 101) whose records were reviewed in the study, 91% of them were taking at least one prescribed or over-the-counter medication.
In a further breakdown of the number of drugs the patients took, the researchers found that 13% of the patients took one drug. 24% took two or three, 23% took four or five, 18% took six or seven and 13% took at least eight different drugs daily. On average, the study patients were taking four drugs on a daily basis.
No surprise to anyone, the number of adverse reactions increased with the number of drugs taken. None of the patients taking only one drug had any medication-related emergencies but 17% of those taking more than six drugs experienced adverse reactions. 12% of those taking two to five medications also experienced reactions bad enough to have to go to the emergency room.
The study also found that half of the patients who came in with drug reactions had another potential drug interaction with their medications that was unrelated to why they came to the hospital in the first place.
Lead researcher Dr. Corrine Hohl from the Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec says "our results suggest that [adverse drug reactions] may represent an underestimated but important [cause of disease] in elderly patients presenting for emergency care."
In commentary, researchers say that adverse drug reactions account for 23% of hospital admissions, extended hospital stays, additional health problems and in many cases, death.
In our opinion, the saddest part of this story is the fact that the researchers found that even after they had a problem and went to the hospital, the patient's medication regimens were rarely adjusted to lower the risk of adverse reactions by the time they were discharged.
