Performance of a trigger tool for detecting drug-related hospital admissions in older people: analysis from the OPERAM trial.
Adverse drug events (ADEs) are an important cause of hospitalizations in older adults. Based on data from the OPERAM trial, this study explored the accuracy of triggers for identifying medication-related hospital admissions in older adults. Triggers were related to diagnoses (e.g., falls, bleeding, thromboembolic events), laboratory values (e.g., hypo- or hyperglycemia) and other factors (e.g., mention of an ADE in the patient record, abrupt medication discontinuation). Among 1,235 included hospitalizations, 58% cases had at least one trigger; medication-related admissions were adjudicated in 72% of these cases.