Negative clinical outcomes of medication resulting in emergency department visits.

Purpose: The results of analyses of patients' health problems related to medication use have been highly variable due to various factors, such as different study methodology, diverse variables determined, fields of study. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and preventability of negative clinical outcomes of medication (NCOMs).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed in the emergency departments (EDs) of nine Spanish hospitals during a 3-month period.

Terms used in patient safety related to medication: a literature review.

Purpose: There is a lack of homogeneity in the terminology used in the context of patient safety related to medication. The aim of this review was to identify the terms and definitions used in patient safety related to medication within the scientific literature.

Methods: Original and review articles that were indexed between 1998 and 2008 in MEDLINE and EMBASE and contained terms used in patient safety related to medication were included.

Medicine-related problems resulting in emergency department visits.

Objective: Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of medicine-related problems, understood as negative clinical outcomes, that result in hospital emergency department (ED) visits and to establish relationships among risk factors and the appearance of pharmacotherapy negative outcomes.

Methods: Methods A stratified two-stage probabilistic sampling approach was used which consisted of stratified random sampling of patients visiting the ED followed up by interviews. A systematic appraisal tool was used to identify pharmacotherapy negative outcomes within the framework of the information gathered.