Antibiotics most common documented medication allergens: Qatar study

Antibiotics were the most common documented medication allergens among the patients in a tertiary hospital in Qatar , according to a study conducted on 2,431 patients last year."Antibiotics represented 42.1% of all reported allergies, followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (20.7%) and paracetamol (5.3%),” noted the study published by Qatar Medical Journal and featured on Qscience.com.According to the study titled, ‘Retrospective review of medication allergy labelling among patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Qatar’ a retrospective cross-sectional audit. This included all medication allergy labelling documentation for patients admitted to Hamad General Hospital from January-December 2022 when the study was conducted.To realise the study, a list of patients with medication allergies was generated from the pharmacy system, which included patients’ demographics, medication names, documented allergy severity, and any other comments. The list was reviewed, and medications were categorised into different classes.A total of 2,856 allergy documentation for 2,431 unique patients were identified and included in the analyses. The study was conducted to review medication allergy labelling documentation, identify the most reported medication class, and describe allergic reactions based on the reported severity.The mean age of included patients was 43 years old, with 73.2% (1,780) being females. Among the reported allergic reactions, 11.8% (336) were documented as severe allergic reactions, 51.1% (1,457) were moderate, and 37.1% (1,060) were mild. Of all the reported allergies, only six (0.21%) cases had documented confirmatory allergy tests done. Further analysis of the reported allergies revealed that 1.2% (34) of the allergies had documentation to counteract the allergy labelling through either revised patient history or re-challenging. Despite this, allergy labelling was kept in the medical profile without proper de-labelling.The researchers of the study highlight that timely access to accurate, up-to-date drug allergy information is critical to avoid potentially life-threatening adverse drug reactions. They note that the completeness and accuracy of allergy documentation remain a challenge. They also point out that inappropriate allergy documentation usually necessitates alternative treatments, increases costs, and may negatively impact patients’ outcomes.The study suggests that allergy labelling documentation is a key to safe medication prescribing. "However, standardised allergy documentation should be implemented to include a brief description and onset of the symptoms. Additionally, a safe de-labelling pathway should be adopted. Most of the allergy documentation was based on patients’ or family/parents’ reports, while actual allergies observed by a healthcare provider were limited,” the research team has concluded.The study was conducted by Rana M al-Adawi, Reem Elajez, Dana Bakdach, Dina Elgaily, Ahmed Karawia, Asmaa Mohamed from Pharmacy Department, Hamad General Hospital, and Pharmacy Department, Rumailah Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation.