Validation of the Patient Perception of Migraine Questionnaire

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Patient Perception of Migraine Questionnaire (PPMQ), which measures patient satisfaction with migraine therapy. Methods and Data: The PPMQ was administered to 940 patients as part of a 3-month, multinational, open-label, clinical trial comparing the effects of oral naratriptan 2.5 mg with the patient's customary therapy for the treatment of migraine. Psychometric properties of the PPMQ were evaluated in terms of its latent factor structure, validity, reliability, sensitivity, and development of a scoring method. Classical Test theory and Item Response theory (IRT) modeling were both used to measure reliability. Results: The PPMQ was able to detect treatment differences (P > .001), and all items significantly correlated with diary ratings of headache pain (r = .18−.51, p > .0001) and the Medical Outcomes Short Form-36 pain scale (r = .27, p > .0001). A principal components factor analysis revealed that the items on the PPMQ were psychometrically distinct and unidimensional (loadings, 0.74–0.91), with the exclusion of two items. The reliability (i.e., internal item consistency) of the PPMQ post-trial was high in both treatment groups (Cronbach's α = 0.96). An IRT analysis also ensured the formation of homogenous items, which were stable on repeat administration. Items did not require weighting and can be simply summed to yield a total score. Conclusion: Based on the data from this one clinical trial, the 15-item PPMQ was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument that seems to efficiently and comprehensively measure patient perception of drug attributes in relation to the treatment of symptoms associated with migraine headaches

Global Experiential and Didactic Education Opportunities at US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To assess the characteristics of global experiential and didactic education offerings in the pharmacy curricula

Prescribing-Assessment Tools for Long-Term Care Pharmacy Practice: Reaching Consensus through a Modified RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method

Supplementary Materials - The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/pharmacy9040194/s1, Table S1: Summary of the identified Prescribing-Assessment Tools.Medicines are the most used health technology in Long-Term Care. The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medicines amongst Long-Term Care patients is high. Pharmacists, assisted by prescribing-assessment tools, can play an important role in optimizing medication use at this level of care. Through a modified RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method, 13 long-term care and hospital pharmacists assessed as ‘appropriate’, ‘uncertain’, or ‘inappropriate’ a collection of commonly used prescribing-assessment tools as to its suitability in assisting pharmacy practice in institutional long-term care settings. A qualitative analysis of written or transcribed comments of participants was pursued to identify relevant characteristics of prescribing-assessment tools and potential hinders in their use. From 24 different tools, pharmacists classified 9 as ‘appropriate’ for pharmacy practice targeted to long-term care patients, while 3 were classified as ‘inappropriate’. The tools feature most appreciated by study participants was the indication of alternatives to potentially inappropriate medication. Lack of time and/or pharmacists and limited access to clinical information seems to be the most relevant hinders for prescribing-assessment tools used in daily practice.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“Is there any way I can get something for my pain?” Patient strategies for requesting analgesics

We examined the direct and indirect means by which patients express a desire for analgesic medication

Patient perspectives on having multiple versus single prescribers of chronic disease medications: results of a qualitative study in a veteran population

BackgroundPatients with multiple chronic conditions often have multiple prescribers, which has been associated with greater health care utilization and medication nonadherence in claims-based analyses. This qualitative study was conducted to understand the reasons why patients have increasing numbers of prescribers of medications and to understand patient perspectives on advantages and disadvantages of having multiple prescribers, including effects on medication supply.MethodsThis qualitative study involved three focus groups comprising 23 outpatients from a single Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center with at least one chronic cardiometabolic condition (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or congestive heart failure). Participants were asked about their experiences, including perceived of advantages and disadvantages, of having multiple prescribers of cardiometabolic medications. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data.ResultsMultiple prescribers arose through referrals and patients actively seeking non-VA prescribers (primary care and/or specialist) to maximize timeliness and access to medications, provide access to medications not on the VA formulary, and minimize out-of-pocket costs. Patients seeking non-VA care had to coordinate own their care by sharing prescriptions and test results to their prescribers within and outside VA.ConclusionsPrescribing physicians should engage in open dialogue with patients to create a shared understanding of patient and provider goals and priorities for chronic disease medications

Gist and verbatim communication concerning medication risks/benefits

To describe the information about medication risks/benefits that rheumatologists provide during patient office visits, the gist that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) extract from the information provided, and the relationship between communication and medication satisfaction

Physicians' Perceptions of Factors Influencing Adherence to Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Children with Sickle Cell Disease

Background: Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) aged Staphylococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae due to the inability of their spleen to protect against infection

Teachable moments and missed opportunities for smoking cessation counseling in a hospital emergency department: a mixed-methods study of patient-provider communication

BackgroundWhile primary care medical clinics have been the most common setting for the delivery of advice about smoking cessation, the hospital emergency department (ED) is a valuable context for counseling medically underserved tobacco users. We conducted a secondary analysis based on a larger audio-recorded study of patient-provider communication about pain and analgesics in the ED. Within a sample of ED patients with back pain, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine how physicians and nurse practitioners capitalize on “teachable moments” for health education to offer spontaneous smoking cessation counseling in the ED.MethodsPatients presenting to an academic ED with a primary complaint of back pain were invited to participate in a study of patient-provider communication. Audio-recorded encounters were transcribed verbatim. Two coders reviewed each transcript to determine whether smoking was discussed and to build a corpus of smoking-related discussions. We then developed inductively generated coding categories to characterize how providers responded when patients endorsed smoking behavior. Categories were refined iteratively to accommodate discrepancies.ResultsOf 52 patient-provider encounters during which smoking was discussed, two-thirds of the patients indicated that they were smokers. Providers missed opportunities for smoking cessation counseling 70% of the time. Eleven encounters contained teachable moments for smoking cessation. We identified four primary strategies for creating teachable moments: 1) positive reinforcement, 2) encouragement, 3) assessing readiness, and 4) offering concrete motivating reasons.ConclusionsMost providers missed opportunities to offer teachable moments for smoking cessation. In encounters that contained teachable moments, providers employed multiple strategies, combining general advice with motivation tailored to the patient’s particular circumstances. Creating motivational links to enhance smoking cessation efforts may be possible with a minimal investment of ED resources

Are children with asthma overconfident that they are using their inhalers correctly?

The objectives of this study were to quantify the extent to which children with asthma are overconfident that they are using their inhalers correctly and determine whether demographic and clinical characteristics are associated with children being overconfident

Adolescent, caregiver, and friend preferences for integrating social support and communication features into an asthma self-management app

This study examines: 1) adolescent preferences for using asthma self-management mobile applications (apps) to interact with their friends, caregivers, medical providers, and other adolescents with asthma and 2) how caregivers and friends would use mobile apps to communicate with the adolescent and serve as sources of support for asthma management