Citation

Alvarez Soria MJ, Hernández González A, Carrasco García De León S, Del Real Francia MA, Flores Barragán JM, Gallardo Alcáñiz MJ, Gudín Rodríguez-Magariños MA, Ibáñez Alonso R, Vaamonde Gamo J. Neurologia 2012; 27(9): 547-559.

Vernacular Title

Sindromes neurologicos asociados al uso de medicamentos. Frecuencia y

Affiliation

Sección de Neurología, Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, España.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Sociedad Española de Neurología, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.nrl.2011.09.015

PMID

22192403

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The need for safe health care, in which the care and treatment of the patient does not cause any more injury to those already arising from their baseline disease, has led to the present study. Our objective has been to determine the frequency and to describe the neurological syndromes attributable to drugs, their preventability and the levels of medical care. METHODS: Observational study. Cohort of subjects from December 2008 to January 2010 referred from Primary and Specialized Care due to neurological symptoms attributable to drugs, and previously known neurology patients who began to have symptoms other than those of the baseline disease, also caused by drugs. The notifications were recorded in a questionnaire. Frequency distributions, central tendency measurements, X(2) or Fisher test and non-parametric tests were performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of adverse neurological events was 0.586% of the total sample. Of the 105 patients selected, the most frequent adverse events were: 25.7%, akinetic-rigid syndrome, 18.1%, dyskinetic syndrome, 11.4% neuro- psychiatric symptoms, and 10.5% confusional syndrome. The most registered pharmacological groups were, in decreasing order: anti-epileptic, dopaminergic, antidepressant, neuroleptic, antivertiginous and prokinetic drugs. We describe the most susceptible population and the statistically significant relationships between the presence of certain pharmacological groups and neurological syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: The low prevalence detected may be due to the study design, although adverse neurological events accounted for 2.84% of the admissions to a Neurology Unit. Understanding the epidemiology should help to identify the safest approach, correctly apply them to the population at higher risk, and reduce healthcare needs and medical resources.

Language: es