Description of adverse reactions reported in the pharmacovigilance database of province of Las Tunas

Abstract

Background: adverse drug effects are a health problem on a worldwide scale and increase the costs of hospital care considerably.

Objective: to describe the adverse drug reactions reported to the pharmacovigilance database of the province of Las Tunas, from January to June 2017.

Methods: a pharmacovigilance, observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out at the aforementioned place and during the period herein declared. The sample consisted of 460 reports of adverse reactions. Descriptive statistics techniques were applied for the analysis of the information.

Results: reports of adverse reactions were predominant in female patients, 61 %, and in pediatric age, 54 %. The organ system mostly affected was the general one in 37 %, followed by the skin, 22 %. Fever was present in 75,2 % of the reports; slight adverse reactions predominated in 73,2 % and probable reactions in 89,5 %; reported by nurses (47 %) and physicians (43 %). By drug class the highest incidences were from vaccines, where the pentavalent vaccine had 54,7 %; among the antimicrobials, beta-lactams contributed 60 % of the cases; angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were reported in 60,6 %. Acupuncture caused 68,7 % of the adverse reactions brought on by natural medicine techniques and non-opioid analgesics reported 31 reactions.

Conclusions: the adverse reactions reported in the pharmacovigilance database were described. The notification of adverse reactions reported by the application of acupuncture stands out.