Prevalence and predictors of drug-related hospitalisation among patients visiting emergency departments of Addis Ababa city hospitals in Ethiopia: a multicentre prospective observational study

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine the prevalence, categories and predictors of drug-related hospitalisation (DRH) among patients visiting emergency departments of Addis Ababa city hospitals, Ethiopia.DesignA multicentre prospective observational study was conducted through patients’ interview and chart review.SettingsThe study was undertaken in three tertiary care hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.ParticipantsA total of 423 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included.Outcome measuresPrevalence and preventability of DRH, categories of drug-related problems causing DRH, medications and diseases involved in DRH, and factors significantly associated with DRH.ResultMore than half of the patients (216, 51.1%) were female. The mean age (SD) was 47.50 (±17.21) years. The mean length of hospital stay (SD) was 10.29 (±8.99) days. Nearly 60% (249) of them were hospitalised due to drug-related problems, of which 87.8% were preventable. The cause for hospitalisation for more than half (130, 53%) of them was a failure to receive drugs, and 37.85 (94) patients were categorised as untreated indications. Age ≥65 years (adjusted OR (AOR)=7.451, 95% CI: 1.889 to 29.397), tertiary educational level (AOR=0.360, 95% CI: 0.141 to 0.923), participants who did not have any occupation (AOR=3.409, 95% CI: 1.120 to 10.374) and presence of comorbid conditions (AOR=2.004, 95% CI: 1.095 to 3.668) were predictors of DRH.ConclusionNearly 90% of DRH was deemed to be preventable in the study settings. Older age, lower educational level, unemployment and presence of comorbid conditions in hospital as an inpatient were predictors of DRH.