Researchers did a prospective observational study of children who came to an ED during a 12-month period. For the study, the visit was deemed medication-related by a pharmacist assessment, emergency physician assessment and an independent adjudication committee.
The most common medication-related event in the ED was adverse drug reactions, subtherapeutic dosage and nonadherence, the study found.
Additionally, researchers determined pediatric patients who present to the ED with a medication-related visit are more likely to be admitted to the hospital and have a longer length of stay than pediatric patients whose ED visit was not medication-related.
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