Development of an intervention to improve appropriate polypharmacy in older people in primary care using a theory-based method

BACKGROUND: It is advocated that interventions to improve clinical practice should be developed using a systematic approach and intervention development methods should be reported. However, previous interventions aimed at ensuring that older people receive appropriate polypharmacy have lacked details on their development. This study formed part of a multiphase research project which aimed to develop an intervention to improve appropriate polypharmacy in older people in primary care. METHODS: The target behaviours for the intervention were prescribing and dispensing of appropriate polypharmacy to older patients by general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists. Intervention development followed a systematic approach, including previous mapping of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to key domains from the Theoretical Domains Framework that were perceived by GPs and pharmacists to influence the target behaviours. Draft interventions were developed to operationalise selected BCTs through team discussion. Selection of an intervention for feasibility testing was guided by a subset of the APEASE (Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects/safety, Equity) criteria. RESULTS: Three draft interventions comprising selected BCTs were developed, targeting patients, pharmacists and GPs, respectively. Following assessment of each intervention using a subset of the APEASE criteria (affordability, practicability, acceptability), the GP-targeted intervention was selected for feasibility testing. This intervention will involve a demonstration of the behaviour and will be delivered as an online video. The video demonstrating how GPs can prescribe appropriate polypharmacy during a typical consultation with an older patient will also demonstrate salience of consequences (feedback emphasising the positive outcomes of performing the behaviour). Action plans and prompts/cues will be used as complementary intervention components. The intervention is designed to facilitate the prescribing of appropriate polypharmacy in routine practice. CONCLUSION: A GP-targeted intervention to improve appropriate polypharmacy in older people has been developed using a systematic approach. Intervention content has been specified using an established taxonomy of BCTs and selected to maximise feasibility. The results of a future feasibility study will help to determine if the theory-based intervention requires further refinement before progressing to a larger scale randomised evaluation

Continuous use of intermittent bladder catheterization - can social support contribute?

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the factors affecting the adequate continuous use of intermittent catheterization and its relation with social support.METHOD: sectional, descriptive and correlational study involving 49 patients with neuropathic bladder caused by spinal cord injury.RESULTS: almost all (92%) participants continued the intermittent catheterization, but 46.9% made some changes in the technique. The complications (28.6% of the sample) were mainly infection and vesicolithiasis. There were high scores for social support in relation to people that were part of the patient's social support.CONCLUSION: All of them noticed great support from the family, but not from the society in general. The difficulties were related to the lack of equipment and inadequate infrastructure, leading to changes that increased urologic complications

Female Urethral Reconstruction

Female urethral strictures are rare; thus, the literature describing stricture management in women is sparse. Although urethral dilation continues to be performed at a high frequency in women despite lack of proven efficacy, this procedure is used for a variety of voiding complaints other than stricture. Hence, the long-term utility of dilation and urethrotomy for urethral stricture in women is unknown. This review describes the various urethroplasty techniques used in the management of female urethral stricture. Although grafts using a dorsal approach have been shown to be feasible in women, ventral flap techniques offer good long-term outcomes with minimal morbidity. Acute and delayed management of pelvic fracture–associated urethral distraction defects in women is also described. Unlike in men, immediate urethroplasty in women should be performed once the patient is hemodynamically stable

Overactive bladder – 18 years – Part II

ABSTRACT Traditionally, the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome has been based on the use of oral medications with the purpose of reestablishing the detrusor stability. The recent better understanding of the urothelial physiology fostered conceptual changes, and the oral anticholinergics – pillars of the overactive bladder pharmacotherapy – started to be not only recognized for their properties of inhibiting the detrusor contractile activity, but also their action on the bladder afference, and therefore, on the reduction of the symptoms that constitute the syndrome. Beta-adrenergic agonists, which were recently added to the list of drugs for the treatment of overactive bladder, still wait for a definitive positioning – as either a second-line therapy or an adjuvant to oral anticholinergics. Conservative treatment failure, whether due to unsatisfactory results or the presence of adverse side effects, define it as refractory overactive bladder. In this context, the intravesical injection of botulinum toxin type A emerged as an effective option for the existing gap between the primary measures and more complex procedures such as bladder augmentation. Sacral neuromodulation, described three decades ago, had its indication reinforced in this overactive bladder era. Likewise, the electric stimulation of the tibial nerve is now a minimally invasive alternative to treat those with refractory overactive bladder. The results of the systematic literature review on the oral pharmacological treatment and the treatment of refractory overactive bladder gave rise to this second part of the review article Overactive Bladder – 18 years, prepared during the 1st Latin-American Consultation on Overactive Bladder