Practice questions › Davidson's Principles of Medicine › Davidson's Medicine - Part 2: Emergency and Critical Care
Davidson's Medicine - Part 2: Emergency and Critical Care, Part 2 - Emergency and Critical Care Medicine (overview) MCQs
Davidson's Medicine - Part 2: Emergency and Critical Care · Davidson's Principles of Medicine · 36 practice questions
- Pharmacogenetic variants and clinical outcomes
- Pharmacogenetics - matching variant to drug outcome
- Prevalence and impact of ADRs
- Definitions of adverse drug outcomes
- Prevalence and causes of ADRs
- Loading dose and steady state
- Pharmacogenetics - acute intermittent porphyria
- Adverse drug reactions - definitions
1. A hospital audit reviewing emergency admissions finds that adverse drug reactions are a substantial contributor, and root-cause analysis reveals many were preventable. Which statement best reflects the text's findings on preventability and burden of ADRs?
- AADRs account for only a negligible proportion of emergency admissions and are rarely preventable
- BADRs affect around 15% of hospital inpatients, and more than half of ADRs could have been avoided with more careful prescribing
- CADRs are exclusively caused by hypersensitivity reactions and cannot be anticipated
- DADRs account for 50% of emergency admissions but are almost never avoidable
Show answer
B. ADRs affect around 15% of hospital inpatients, and more than half of ADRs could have been avoided with more careful prescribing The text states ADRs affect around 15% of hospital inpatients and that retrospective analysis showed more than half could have been avoided with more careful prescribing.
2. A hospital pharmacist is reviewing the burden of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) across different care settings in the UK to prioritise a medication safety initiative. Based on the reported prevalence figures, which setting shows the highest proportion of cases attributable to ADRs?
- AOutpatient specialist clinics
- BHospital inpatients
- CPrimary care consultations
- DEmergency hospital admissions
Show answer
B. Hospital inpatients The text states ADRs account for approximately 3% of primary care consultations, 7% of emergency admissions, but affect around 15% of hospital inpatients, making inpatients the highest proportion among those listed.
3. A patient is started on a drug with a long half-life. Because it would take too long to reach steady-state therapeutic concentrations with maintenance dosing alone, the physician gives an initial larger dose before switching to regular maintenance doses. What is the primary pharmacokinetic rationale for this strategy?
- AIt permanently increases the drug's half-life so that fewer maintenance doses are needed
- BIt rapidly achieves a peak plasma concentration close to the eventual steady-state (plateau) concentration, which is then sustained by maintenance dosing
- CIt converts the drug into a modified-release formulation automatically
- DIt reduces the therapeutic index of the drug so that toxicity is less likely
Show answer
B. It rapidly achieves a peak plasma concentration close to the eventual steady-state (plateau) concentration, which is then sustained by maintenance dosing A loading dose is equivalent to the steady-state body content of drug, producing a peak concentration near the plateau level that maintenance doses then sustain, avoiding the wait of ~5 half-lives.
Practise all 36 questions free
Every answer is marked the moment you tap it, with the reason. Your weak topics come back until you get them right.
Start free, no card needed