Discrepancies in drug histories at admission to gastrointestinal surgery, internal medicine and geriatric hospital wards in Central Norway: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To compare discrepancies in drug histories among patients acutely admitted to different hospital wards, classify the discrepancies according to their potential clinical impact and identify appropriate selection criteria for patients that should be subject to a detailed drug history at admission.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Two gastrointestinal surgery wards and one geriatric ward at St Olav's University Hospital in Trondheim and two general internal medicine wards at Ålesund Hospital in Ålesund, Norway.