OA16.04
Purpose: To investigate the rates of adverse event(s) (AE) associated with natural health product (NHP) use, prescription drug use and concurrent NHP-drug use in individuals within the community setting seeking mental health services through active surveillance.
Methods: Participating clinicians from mental health clinics in the Edmonton, Alberta and the surrounding area asked individuals seeking mental health services through self-referral or referral by a health care provider about (i) prescription drug use, ii) NHP use and iii) experiences of AEs during a telephone intake process.
Results: Over 48 weeks (July 3, 21012 to May 31, 2013), a total of 1480 patients were screened across six clinic sites. Overall, 672 patients reported taking prescription drugs only (45.8%; 95% CI: 43.3–48.4), 79 reported taking NHPs only (5.4%; 95% CI: 4.3–6.7), 279 reported taking NHPs and drugs concurrently (19.03%; 95% CI: 17.1–21.1) and 436 (29.7%; 95% CI: 27.46–32.13) reported taking neither. In total, 147 patients reported an AE, representing 10.7% (95% CI: 8.6–13.3), 2.5% (95% CI: 0.6–9.6), 25.5% (95%CI: 20.7–30.9) and 0.46% (95% CI: 0.11–1.81) of each population, respectively. Compared with prescription drug use, patients reporting concurrent prescription NHP-drug use were 2.8 times more likely to experience an AE (OR; 95% CI: 2.0–4.1; p<0.001).
Conclusion: Nearly a fifth of patients seeking mental health services within the community take NHPs and prescription drugs concurrently; these patients are also at a greater risk of experiencing an AE than those taking prescription drugs only. Active surveillance provides a valuable means of detecting such AEs and can be incorporated into the medical histories obtained by mental health clinicians.
Contact: Baljit Khamba, khamba@ualberta.ca
