Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia

Abstract Background Digital solutions can help monitor medication safety in children who are often excluded in clinical trials. The lack of reliable safety data often leads to either under- or over-dose of medications during clinical management which make them either not responding well to treatment...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Beldona Hema Rekha, Shairyzah Ahmad Hisham, Izyan A. Wahab, Norleen Mohamed Ali, Khang Wen Goh, Long Chiau Ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-024-02801-y
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846112564191166464
author Beldona Hema Rekha
Shairyzah Ahmad Hisham
Izyan A. Wahab
Norleen Mohamed Ali
Khang Wen Goh
Long Chiau Ming
author_facet Beldona Hema Rekha
Shairyzah Ahmad Hisham
Izyan A. Wahab
Norleen Mohamed Ali
Khang Wen Goh
Long Chiau Ming
author_sort Beldona Hema Rekha
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Digital solutions can help monitor medication safety in children who are often excluded in clinical trials. The lack of reliable safety data often leads to either under- or over-dose of medications during clinical management which make them either not responding well to treatment or susceptible to adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Aim This study investigated ADR signalling techniques to detect serious ADRs in Malaysian children aged from birth to 12 years old using an electronic ADRs’ database. Methods Four techniques (Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR), Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR), Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN) and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker (MGPS)) were tested on ADR reports submitted to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency between 2016 and 2020. Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of the techniques were compared. Results A total of 31 medicine-Important Medical Event pairs were found and examined among the 3152 paediatric ADR reports. Three techniques (PRR, ROR, MGPS) signalled oculogyric crisis and dystonia for metoclopramide. BCPNN and MGPS signalled angioedema for paracetamol, amoxicillin and ibuprofen. Similar performances were found for PRR, ROR and BCPNN (sensitivity of 12%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100% and NPV of 21%). MGPS revealed the highest sensitivity (20%) and NPV (23%), as well as similar specificity and PPV (100%). Conclusions This study suggests that medication safety signalling techniques could be applied on electronic health records to monitor medication safety issues in children. Clinicians and medication safety specialist could prioritise the signals for further clinical consideration and prompt response.
format Article
id doaj-art-74993203e4e64cdbb0eedc69245cd67a
institution Kabale University
issn 1472-6947
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
spelling doaj-art-74993203e4e64cdbb0eedc69245cd67a2024-12-22T12:30:02ZengBMCBMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making1472-69472024-12-012411910.1186/s12911-024-02801-yDigital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in MalaysiaBeldona Hema Rekha0Shairyzah Ahmad Hisham1Izyan A. Wahab2Norleen Mohamed Ali3Khang Wen Goh4Long Chiau Ming5Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Cyberjaya, Persiaran BestariSchool of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham MalaysiaFaculty of Pharmacy, Universiti MalayaPharmacovigilance Section, Centre for Compliance and Quality Control, National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Jalan UniversitiFaculty of Data Science and Information Technology, INTI International UniversitySchool of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway UniversityAbstract Background Digital solutions can help monitor medication safety in children who are often excluded in clinical trials. The lack of reliable safety data often leads to either under- or over-dose of medications during clinical management which make them either not responding well to treatment or susceptible to adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Aim This study investigated ADR signalling techniques to detect serious ADRs in Malaysian children aged from birth to 12 years old using an electronic ADRs’ database. Methods Four techniques (Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR), Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR), Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN) and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker (MGPS)) were tested on ADR reports submitted to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency between 2016 and 2020. Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of the techniques were compared. Results A total of 31 medicine-Important Medical Event pairs were found and examined among the 3152 paediatric ADR reports. Three techniques (PRR, ROR, MGPS) signalled oculogyric crisis and dystonia for metoclopramide. BCPNN and MGPS signalled angioedema for paracetamol, amoxicillin and ibuprofen. Similar performances were found for PRR, ROR and BCPNN (sensitivity of 12%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100% and NPV of 21%). MGPS revealed the highest sensitivity (20%) and NPV (23%), as well as similar specificity and PPV (100%). Conclusions This study suggests that medication safety signalling techniques could be applied on electronic health records to monitor medication safety issues in children. Clinicians and medication safety specialist could prioritise the signals for further clinical consideration and prompt response.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-024-02801-yPediatricsPharmacyeHealthElectronic health records
spellingShingle Beldona Hema Rekha
Shairyzah Ahmad Hisham
Izyan A. Wahab
Norleen Mohamed Ali
Khang Wen Goh
Long Chiau Ming
Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Pediatrics
Pharmacy
eHealth
Electronic health records
title Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
title_full Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
title_fullStr Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
title_short Digital monitoring of medication safety in children: an investigation of ADR signalling techniques in Malaysia
title_sort digital monitoring of medication safety in children an investigation of adr signalling techniques in malaysia
topic Pediatrics
Pharmacy
eHealth
Electronic health records
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-024-02801-y
work_keys_str_mv AT beldonahemarekha digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia
AT shairyzahahmadhisham digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia
AT izyanawahab digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia
AT norleenmohamedali digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia
AT khangwengoh digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia
AT longchiauming digitalmonitoringofmedicationsafetyinchildrenaninvestigationofadrsignallingtechniquesinmalaysia