Analyzing the patterns of adverse drug reactions due to anti-infectives from large-scale nationwide database in Thailand.

Abstract

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which can occur in any drug class and are one of the leading causes of morbidity and hospitalization around the world, remain a public health concern. This study aimed to explore the distribution and patterns of anti-infective-induced ADRs in Thailand.

Research design and methods: The national database of anti-infective-induced ADRs from January 2012 to December 2021 in the 77 provinces of Thailand. After the pre-processing, frequencies and percentages were used to examine the distribution of the ADRs. The chi-square test was used for measuring association for anti-infective-induced ADRs.

Results: A total of 82,333 anti-infective-induced ADR reports were recorded from 2012-2021 in the 77 provinces of Thailand. The most commonly reported ADRs were in Central Thailand (29.0%), followed by the Northeast (25.9%). Most of the patients were females aged 20-39. Antibiotics categorized by chemical structure, cephalosporin (28.0%) and penicillin (23.4%), were the most common anti-infective drug-induced ADRs. Dose frequency and ADR onset were statistically associated with therapeutic drug class, anti-infective group, and disease (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of this study will enable healthcare professionals to prioritize groups and policymakers to make effective ADR prevention policies to reduce the risk and improve patient safety.