Adverse drug reactions– how common are these in general practice and what are the implications for practice?

In this episode, we talk to Professor Emma Wallace, who is a GP and Professor of General Practice at University College Cork about the incidence and severity of adverse drug reactions in older adults in the community. Title of paper: Cumulative incidence and severity of adverse drug reactions and associated patient characteristics in older community-dwelling adults attending general practice – a six year prospective cohort studyAvailable at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0181No prospective studies have examined adverse drug reaction (ADR) occurrence among older adults attending general practice. ADRs were found to occur for approximately 1 in 4 older adults over a six-year period. Cardiovascular, nervous system and anti-infective drugs for systemic use were the most commonly implicated drug classes. Approximately 1 in 4 ADRs rated as moderate result in additional healthcare utilisation. Female sex, polypharmacy (5-9 drug classes) and major polypharmacy (≥10 drug classes) increased the likelihood for ADRs.