Communication on Safety of Medicines in Europe:Current Practices and General Practitioners' Awareness and Preferences

Introduction National competent authorities (NCAs) for medicines coordinate communication relating to the safety of medicines in Europe. The effectiveness of current communication practices has been questioned, particularly with regard to reaching general practitioners (GPs). Objective The aim of this study was to assess current European NCA safety communication practices and to investigate European GPs' awareness of and preferences for safety communications on medicines. Methods Web-based surveys were distributed among European NCAs and healthcare professionals (HCPs). The survey among regulators was emailed to a representative of each of the 27 European countries participating in the Strengthening Collaboration for Operating Pharmacovigilance in Europe (SCOPE) Joint Action. HCPs from nine European countries (Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) were asked about their preferences through a link to the survey on websites, in newsletters, and/or in a direct email. From this survey, data from GPs were used and descriptive analyses were conducted. Results Current NCA practices were reported for 26 countries. In 23 countries (88%), NCAs published direct healthcare professional communications (DHPCs, i.e. urgent communication letters for serious safety issues) on their website in addition to distribution to individual HCPs. Educational materials were available on the NCA's website in 10 countries (40%), and 21 NCAs (81%) indicated they had their own bulletin/newsletter, which is often presented on the NCA's website (15 countries; 60%). More than 90% of the 1766 GPs who completed the survey were aware of DHPCs. The most preferred senders of safety information were NCAs and professional bodies, while the preferred channels for keeping up to date with safety information were medicines reference books and clinical guidelines. GPs found the repetition of safety issues useful (range of 80% in the UK to 97% in Italy). Preference for an electronic copy rather than a hardcopy varied per country (36% in Sweden to 72% in Spain). Conclusions NCAs use similar methods for safety communications on medicines. Most GPs were aware of urgent communications and preferred similar senders of safety communications; however, their preferences towards the format differed per country

Avaliação da aeração nasal pré e pós a realização de manobras de massagem e limpeza nasal Evaluation of nasal aeration before and after the accomplishment of massage and nasal cleanness

OBJETIVO: identificar a modificação da aeração nasal após a realização de manobras de massagem e limpeza nasal. MÉTODOS: vinte crianças na faixa etária de quatro a onze anos com diagnóstico de rinite alérgica foram submetidas à avaliação da aeração nasal com o auxílio do espelho milimetrado de Altmann. Inicialmente houve a marcação do ar expirado na placa metálica, posteriormente foram realizadas manobras de massagem e limpeza nasal para retirada da secreção, havendo uma nova marcação para a comparação dos resultados. Foi aplicado o teste Kolmogorov-Smirnov para observar a suposição de normalidade dos dados e o teste t-student para amostras pareadas, sendo todas as conclusões tomadas ao nível de significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: pode-se observar que as médias obtidas da quantificação da aeração nasal após as manipulações e limpeza na região foram significativas p<0,001. CONCLUSÃO: a partir dos resultados obtidos nesta pesquisa foi possível observar um aumento significante na aeração nasal após as manobras de massagem e limpeza nasal.<br>PURPOSE: to identify the modification of nasal aeration after the accomplishment of maneuvers of massage and nasal cleanness. METHODS: twenty children aging from four to eleven years with diagnosis of allergic rhinitis have been submitted to evaluation of nasal aeration with the Altmann's milimetric mirror. Initially, we was marked the air exhaled on the metallic plate, afterwards we made a massage and nasal cleanness for removing of the secretion, having a new benchmark to compare the results. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to test the assumption of normality for the data and t-student test for paired samples. All conclusions were taken under 5% significance. RESULTS: it was observed that the obtained averages of the nasal aeration after the manipulations and cleanness in the region were significant: p<0,001. CONCLUSION: from the results obtained in this research it was possible to observe a significant increase in the nasal aeration after the massage and nasal cleanness