• Johannes Heck, Nina Noltemeyer, Martin Schulze Westhoff, Stephanie Deest-Gaubatz, Sebastian Schröder, Benjamin Krichevsky, Nicolas Simon, Swetlana Gerbel, Maximilian Friedrich, Dirk O Stichtenoth, Stefan Bleich, Helge Frieling, and Adrian Groh.
• Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. heck.johannes@mh-hannover.de.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Dec 1; 192 (6): 291729272917-2927.

ObjectiveTo investigate the frequency and characteristics of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) that occurred on the gerontopsychiatric ward of Hannover Medical School over a 6-year period.DesignRetrospective monocentric cohort study.ResultsSix hundred thirty-four patient cases (mean age 76.6 ± 7.1 years; 67.2% female) were analysed. In total, 92 ADRs in 56 patient cases were registered in the study population. The overall ADR prevalence, the ADR prevalence upon hospital admission, and the ADR prevalence during hospitalisation were 8.8%, 6.3%, and 4.9%, respectively. The most frequent ADRs were extrapyramidal symptoms, alterations in blood pressure or heart rate, and electrolyte disturbances. Of note, two cases of asystole and one case of obstructive airway symptoms related to general anaesthesia in the context of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) were detected. The presence of coronary heart disease was associated with an increased risk of ADR occurrence (odds ratio (OR) 2.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.37-6.22), while the presence of dementia was associated with a decreased risk of ADR development (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.23-0.89).ConclusionsType and prevalence of ADRs in the present study were largely in accordance with previous reports. By contrast, we did not observe a relationship between advanced age or female sex and ADR occurrence. We detected a risk signal for cardiopulmonary ADRs related to general anaesthesia in the context of ECT that warrants further investigation. Elderly psychiatric patients should be carefully screened for cardiopulmonary comorbidities before initiation of ECT.© 2023. The Author(s).

16 keywords...

hide…