[Adverse drug reactions in the Spanish medical bibliographic literature: a comparison of 3 periods].

Background: A quantitative and qualitative assessment of reports on suspected adverse drug reactions (ARD) in Spanish medical literature was carried out.
Materials and Methods: The periods analysed were 1972-1974, 1986-1988 and 1992-1994, and the medical journals were Anales de Medicina Interna, Medicina Clínica and Revista Clínica Española. We selected all articles including specific information on suspect ADR.
Results: The percentage of articles has increased considerably (1972-1974: 2.1%, 1986-1988: 5.7%, and 1992-1994: 8.2%). In spite of this growth, the qualitative data studied have not significantly improved.
Conclusions: It is necessary to device some mechanism in order to improve ADR reporting.