ArticleBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2018
Incidence and cost of medication harm in older adults following hospital discharge: a multicentre prospective study in the UK.
Article in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hospitalisation as an Opportunity to Optimise Quality Use of Medicines in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Drugs & aging · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Drug-Related Readmissions in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Drugs & aging · 2024Pooled it
- Supporting medicines management for older people at care transitions - a theory-based analysis of a systematic review of 24 interventions.BMC health services research · 2021Pooled it
- Preventable medication harm across health care settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review examining the characteristics of users of NHS patient medicines helpline services, and the types of enquiries they make.European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice · 2020Pooled it
- Successful care transitions for older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of interventions that support medication continuity.Age and ageing · 2020Pooled it
- Prevalence and Nature of Medication Errors and Medication-Related Harm Following Discharge from Hospital to Community Settings: A Systematic Review.Drug safety · 2020Pooled it
- Enhancing patient participation in discharge medication communication: a feasibility pilot trial.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Implementation of a medicine management plan (MMP) to reduce medication-related harm (MRH) in older people post-hospital discharge: a randomised controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2022Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of a clinical medication review in vulnerable older patients at hospital discharge, a randomized controlled trial.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2019Trial
- Secondary Prevention Bundle for Drug-Related Problems in an Integrated Healthcare Setting: A Pragmatic Observational Implementation-Effectiveness Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring the implementation and integration of structured medication reviews in primary care: a qualitative evaluation using normalisation process theory.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Impact of structured medication reviews on prescribing in English primary care: a retrospective observational cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Observational
- An Underused Competence: Clinical Pharmacists' Experiences of Writing Referrals in Transitions of Care.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Pilot testing of a brief pre-consultation medicines adherence tool in a geriatric outpatient setting.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- Exploring consumer and healthcare professional perspectives on discharge medicine communication and solutions for safer transitions of care.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Criteria pharmacists use to refer patients to a post discharge pharmacist review clinic.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- iSIMPATHY: a multinational pre-post non-randomised intervention study transforming medication review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Practical strategies for improving medication management during care transitions for older adults with dementia: findings from a novel stakeholder-informed review process.Age and ageing · 2025Article
- Co-design of a multifaceted intervention to improve quality handover of medicine information at discharge from hospital.BMC health services research · 2025Article
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsPolypharmacy is increasingly common in older adults, placing them at risk of medication-related harm (MRH). Patients are particularly vulnerable to problems with their medications in the period following hospital discharge due to medication changes and poor information transfer between hospital and primary care. The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence, severity, preventability and cost of MRH in older adults in England postdischarge.
methodsAn observational, multicentre, prospective cohort study recruited 1280 older adults (median age 82 years) from five teaching hospitals in Southern England, UK. Participants were followed up for 8 weeks by senior pharmacists, using three data sources (hospital readmission review, participant telephone interview and primary care records), to identify MRH and associated health service utilization.
resultsOverall, 413 participants (37%) experienced MRH (556 MRH events per 1000 discharges), of which 336 (81%) cases were serious and 214 (52%) potentially preventable. Four participants experienced fatal MRH. The most common MRH events were gastrointestinal (n = 158, 25%) or neurological (n = 111, 18%). The medicine classes associated with the highest risk of MRH were opiates, antibiotics and benzodiazepines. A total of 328 (79%) participants with MRH sought healthcare over the 8-week follow-up. The incidence of MRH-associated hospital readmission was 78 per 1000 discharges. Postdischarge MRH in older adults is estimated to cost the National Health Service £396 million annually, of which £243 million is potentially preventable.
conclusionsMRH is common in older adults following hospital discharge, and results in substantial use of healthcare resources.
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Registered trials
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.