Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27279597›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2016

Performance of trigger tools in identifying adverse drug events in emergency department patients: a validation study.

Andrei Karpov, Catherine Parcero, Catherine P Y Mok, Chandima Panditha, Eugenia Yu, Linda Dempster, Corinne M Hohl

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Performance of Trigger Tools in Identifying Adverse Drug Events in Emergency Intensive Care Unit: A Prospective Observational Study.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2025
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  9. Observational
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  12. Development and Validation of a Trigger Tool for Identifying Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
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  17. Review
  18. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Andrei KarpovDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9.
Catherine ParceroQuality & Patient Safety, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9.
Catherine P Y MokDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9.
Chandima PandithaQuality & Patient Safety, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9.
Eugenia YuDepartment of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4.
Linda DempsterQuality & Patient Safety, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9.
Corinne M HohlDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9. chohl@mail.ubc.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsTrigger tools are retrospective surveillance methods that can be used to identify adverse drug events (ADEs), unintended and harmful effects of medications, in medical records. Trigger tools are used in quality improvement, public health surveillance and research activities. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of trigger tools in identifying ADEs.

methodsThis study was a sub-study of a prospective cohort study which enrolled adults presenting to one tertiary care emergency department. Clinical pharmacists evaluated patients for ADEs at the point-of-care. Twelve months after the prospective study's completion, the patients' medical records were reviewed using eight different trigger tools. ADEs identified using each trigger tool were compared with events identified at the point-of-care. The primary outcome was the sensitivity of each trigger tool for ADEs.

resultsAmong 1151 patients, 152 (13.2%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 11.4, 15.3%) were diagnosed with one or more ADEs at the point-of-care. The sensitivity of the trigger tools for detecting ADEs ranged from 2.6% (95% CI 0.7, 6.6%) to 15.8% (95% CI 10.6, 22.8%). Their specificity varied from 99.3% (95% CI 98.6, 99.7) to 100% (95% CI 99.6, 100%).

conclusionThe trigger tools examined had poor sensitivity for identifying ADEs in emergency department patients, when applied manually and in retrospect. Reliance on these methods to detect ADEs for quality improvement, surveillance, and research activities is likely to underestimate their occurrence, and may lead to biased estimates.

Indexed as

Emergency Service, HospitalAlgorithmsDrug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsFemaleHumansMaleMedication ErrorsMiddle AgedObserver VariationPoint-of-Care SystemsProspective StudiesSensitivity and Specificitydrug-related side effects and adverse reactionsemergency servicehealth carehospitalquality indicatorstrigger tools

Identifiers

PMID27279597
PMCPMC5137830

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.