Adverse drug events and associated factors in hospitalized pediatric patients using a Trigger Tool at Tirunesh Beijing Hospital, Ethiopia

Introduction : Pediatric age groups are susceptible to adverse drug events (ADEs) due to age-related physiological differences and limited medication safety data. The global trigger tool is a simple and easy method for assessing ADEs. However, there is no medication safety data available in the study setting that has been collected using a trigger tool. Objective : To assess the occurrence of ADEs and identify potential risk factors associated with ADEs in pediatric inpatients using the Global Trigger Tool at Tirunesh Beijing Hospital. Method : A retrospective study was conducted from May 9 to September 30, 2022, among hospitalized pediatric patients at Tirunesh Beijing Hospital. The Global Trigger Tool was used to detect ADEs from patient medical records. The data were then cleaned, coded, and analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed, and p< 0.05 is considered to be statistically significant. Result: A total of 335 pediatric inpatient medical records were reviewed in the study. The median age of the study population was 3.0 years (range: 9 days to 15 years). The study identified 6.3 ADEs per 100 pediatric admissions using the trigger tool. Among these ADEs, the majority of ADEs (85.7%) were deemed preventable, while the remaining were not. The most common triggers included abrupt medication stops, rash, and the use of antidotes, such as naloxone. Antibiotics, such as gentamicin and ceftriaxone, were the most frequently implicated medications in ADEs. Further, patients with a hospital stay of eight or more days were 1.28 times more likely to develop ADEs (AOR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.035, 1.459), and those who received three or more prescribed medications were 3.9 times more likely to develop ADEs (AOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.007, 15.21). Conclusion: ADEs are a significant cause of harm in pediatric inpatients. The number of drugs prescribed and the length of stay were significantly associated with the presence of ADEs. Although the Global Trigger Tool was effective in identifying ADEs, further research is needed to evaluate its feasibility and reliability for routine use in pediatric populations. We recommend that researchers undertake a prospective, multicenter, large-scale study to further evaluate the use of trigger tools among pediatric inpatients.