PATTERN OF SUSPECTED ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL – A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Objective: The objective of the study was to study the pattern of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Pharmacology of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Kerala. As part of pharmacovigilance activities, the ADRs were collected in Central Drug Standard Control Organization Suspected ADR reporting form from various departments during a period of 3 months and recorded in Pharmacovigilance register maintained by the pharmacology department. As part of our study, we collected the details such as patient’s initials, age, gender, reporting department of hospital, description of the ADR, duration of the reaction, name of suspected ADRs, and outcome from the Pharmacovigilance register. Descriptive statistics will be used for data analysis by statistical package for the social science for windows 16. Results: Two hundred and twenty-two ADR from 141 patients obtained during a period of 3 months. The maximum ADR reports were in age group more than 50 years of age. The skin and appendages were most affected followed by gastrointestinal tract. Antineoplastic drugs accounted for 59.7% of drug class suspected for ADRs followed by use of more than one drug (14.1%). Among antineoplastic drugs, cyclophosphamide and carboplatin accounted for majority causes of ADR. The antibiotics accounted for 12.7% of all drugs. Among the antibiotics penicillin and cephalosporins caused most of the ADRs. Conclusion: The maximum number of ADR reported in our study was with the use of antineoplastic drugs and most common ADR reported was alopecia