Temporal profile of adverse drug reactions and associated clinical factors: a prospective observational study in a neonatal intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE

Although adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are quite common in hospitalised neonates, pharmacovigilance activities in this public are still incipient. This study aims to characterise ADRs in neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), identifying causative drugs, temporal profile and associated factors.

DESIGN

Prospective observational study.

SETTING

NICU of a public maternity hospital in Natal/Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

All neonates admitted to the NICU for more than 24 hours and using at least one medication were followed up during the time of hospitalisation.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Incidence rate and risk factors for ADRs. The ADRs were detected by an active search in electronic medical records and analysis of spontaneous reports in the hospital pharmacovigilance system.

RESULTS

Six hundred neonates were included in the study, where 118 neonates had a total of 186 ADRs. The prevalence of ADRs at the NICU was 19.7% (95% CI 16.7% to 23.0%). The most common ADRs were tachycardia (30.6%), polyuria (9.1%) and hypokalaemia (8.6%). Tachycardia (peak incidence rate: 57.1 ADR/1000 neonates) and hyperthermia (19.1 ADR/1000 neonates) predominated during the first 5 days of hospitalisation. The incidence rate of polyuria and hypokalaemia increased markedly after the 20th day, with both reaching a peak of 120.0 ADR/1000 neonates. Longer hospitalisation time (OR 0.018, 95% CI 0.007 to 0.029; p<0.01) and number of prescribed drugs (OR 0.127, 95% CI 0.075 to 0.178; p<0.01) were factors associated with ADRs.

CONCLUSION

ADRs are very common in NICU, with tachycardia and hyperthermia predominant in the first week of hospitalisation and polyuria and hypokalaemia from the third week onwards.