Adverse drug events (ADE) are a major health and economic problem. There is no information regarding incidence of ADE in Cabo Verde and trigger tools are an efficient active data collection method. Objective: To develop the first PV study in Cabo Verde and characterize ADE in a hospital. Method: This is a retrospective study of chart review using the Global Trigger Tool (GTT) developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The simple random sample of medical records for patients

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... charged from less than 48 h, time spent in intensive care unit and medical records with no drug administration records were excluded. Results: A total of 383 medical records data were collected. The average age of patients was 37 and 40 years, 62.6% and 59.8% of the total were females. A total 287 triggers were identified, 184 and 103 triggers for first and second period, respectively. For the first period, a total of 105 ADE were identified in 54 patients with the incidence of 28.4% patient presenting ADE and a rate of 54% ADEs per 100 patients, in the second period, a total of 77 ADE were identified in 38 patients with the incidence of 19.6% and a rate of 38% ADE per 100 patients. Drugs more often associated with an ADE were ceftriaxone, furosemide, metronidazole and ranitidine. Conclusion: The trigger tool had a good performance detecting ADE. About ¼ of the hospitalized patients in hospital showed adverse events. Further studies are needed using prospective method and extended period. Journal of Pharmacovigilance Jou rn a l o f P harma c o v ig il a nc e