New Study Evaluates Drug-Related Harm Among Hospitalized
Children Category: Child Health News A study published in the
April 2008 issue of Pediatrics found that a new "trigger tool"
dramatically increased the detection of adverse drug events in
hospital settings. With this tool, the authors found 11.1
adverse drug events per 100 admissions, a much higher rate than
previous studies found. Twelve children’s hospitals, convened
through the Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA), worked
to adapt the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Adverse Drug
Event (ADE) Trigger Tool for adults to more appropriately and
accurately detect adverse drug events in pediatric hospital
settings. The new Pediatric Adverse Drug Events (ADE) Trigger
Tool can be found on CHCA's site. Experts from the National
Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) provided
both improvement and safety expertise in support of a CHCA
collaborative improvement program to reduce the frequency of
these events in pediatric hospitals. Elim