The number of people treated in U.S. hospitals for illnesses and injuries from incorrectly taking medicines jumped 52% between 2004 and 2008 — from 1.2 million to 1.9 million — according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The side effects and injuries resulted from taking or being given the wrong medicine or dosage.

AHRQ, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also found that in 2008:

• The top five categories of medicines with more than 838,000 people treated and released from EDs were: unspecified medicines (261,600), pain relievers (118,100), antibiotics (95,100), tranquilizers and antidepressants (79,300), and corticosteroids and other hormones (71,400).

• For patients admitted to the hospital, the top five categories causing side effects and injuries were corticosteroids (283,700 cases), pain relievers (269,400), anticoagulants (218,800), drugs to treat cancer and immune system disorders (234,300) and heart and blood pressure medicines (191,300).

• More than half (53%) of hospitalized patients treated for side effects or other medication-related injuries were age 65 or older, 30% were 45 to 64, 14% were between 18 and 44, and 3% were under age 18. Children and teenagers accounted for 22% of emergency cases.

• About 57% of the hospitalized patients and 61% of ED cases were female.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data in Medication-related Adverse Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals and Emergency Departments, 2008 (http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb109.pdf).

The report uses data from the agency’s 2008 Nationwide Inpatient Sample and 2008 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. For information about these two AHRQ databases, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/datahcup.htm.