Drug Treatment in Older People before and after the Transition to a Multi-Dose Drug Dispensing System - A Longitudinal Analysis

Tverrsnittstudie, undersøker assosiasjonen mellom multidose og polyfarmasi hos eldre.Background: an association has been found between multi-dose drug dispensing (MDD) and use of many drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of this association, by performing a longitudinal analysis of the drug treatment before and after the transition to MDD. Methods: inclusion critera in this register-based study were inhabitants in Region Västra Götaland, Sweden, who, at ≥65 years of age and between 1st July 2006 and 30th June 2010, filled their first MDD prescription. For each individual, prescribed drugs were estimated at three month intervals before and after (maximum 3 years, respectively) the first date of filling an MDD prescription (index date). Results: a total of 30,922 individuals matched the inclusion criteria (mean age: 83.2 years; 59.9% female). There was a temporal association between the transition to MDD and an increased number of drugs: 5.463.9 and 7.563.8 unique drugs three months before and after the index date, respectively, as well as worse outcomes on several indicators of prescribing quality. When either data before or after the index date were used, a multi-level regression analysis predicted the number of drugs at the index date at 5.76 (95% confidence limits: 5.71; 5.80) and 7.15 (7.10; 7.19), respectively, for an average female individual (83.2 years, 10.8 unique diagnoses, 2.4 healthcare contacts/three months). The predicted change in the number of drugs, from three months before the index date to the index date, was greater when data before this date was used as compared with data after this date: 0.12 (0.09; 0.14) versus 0.02 (20.01; 0.05). Conclusions: after the patients entered the MDD system, they had an increased number of drugs, more often potentially harmful drug treatment, and fewer changes in drug treatment. These findings support a causal relationship between such a system and safety concerns as regards prescribing practices

Association between Multi-Dose Drug Dispensing and Quality of Drug Treatment – A Register-Based Study

BACKGROUND: In the elderly in Scandinavia, multi-dose drug dispensing (MDD) is a common alternative to ordinary prescriptions (OP). MDD patients receive their drugs in unit bags, one for each dose occasion. The prescribing procedure differs between MDD and OP. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between MDD and quality of drug treatment (QDT). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cross-sectional study was performed of all inhabitants in Region Västra Götaland alive on December 31st 2007, aged ≥65 years, with ≥1 prescribed drug and ≥2 health care visits for ≥2 diagnoses for obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and/or cardiovascular disease in 2005-2007 (n = 24,146). For each patient, drug treatment on December 31st 2007 was estimated from drugs registered in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. QDT was evaluated according to established quality indicators (≥10 drugs, Long-acting benzodiazepines, Drugs with anticholinergic action, ≥3 psychotropics, and Drugs combinations that should be avoided). Logistic regression, with adjustments for age, sex, burden of disease, and residence, was performed to investigate the association between MDD and QDT. Mean age was 77 years, 51% were females, and 20% used MDD. For all quality indicators, the proportion of patients with poor QDT was greater in patients with MDD than in patients with OP (all P<0.0001). Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for poor QDT (MDD patients vs. OP patients) ranged from 1.47 (1.30-1.65) to 7.08 (6.30-7.96) and from 1.36 (1.18-1.57) to 5.48 (4.76-6.30), respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Patients with MDD have poorer QDT than patients with OP. This cannot be explained by differences in age, sex, burden of disease, or residence. These findings must be taken into account when designing alternative prescribing systems. Further research is needed to evaluate causative factors and if the findings also apply to other dose dispensing systems

Impact of information letters on the reporting rate of adverse drug reactions and the quality of the reports: a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is an important method for pharmacovigilance, but under-reporting and poor quality of reports are major limitations. The aim of this study was to evaluate if repeated one-page ADR information letters affect (i) the reporting rate of ADRs and (ii) the quality of the ADR reports. METHODS: All 151 primary healthcare units in the Region Västra Götaland, Sweden, were randomly allocated (1:1) to an intervention (n = 77) or a control group (n = 74). The intervention consisted of one-page ADR information letters administered at three occasions during 2008 to all physicians and nurses in the intervention units. The number of ADR reports received from the 151 units was registered, as was the quality of the reports, which was defined as high if the ADR was to be reported according to Swedish regulations, that is, if the ADR was (i) serious, (ii) unexpected, and/or (iii) related to the use of new drugs and not labelled as common in the Summary of Product Characteristics. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate if the ADR information letter had reached the intended recipient. RESULTS: Before the intervention, no significant differences in reporting rate or number of high quality reports could be detected between the randomization groups. In 2008, 79 reports were sent from 37 intervention units and 52 reports from 30 control units (mean number of reports per unit ± standard deviation: 1.0 ± 2.5 vs. 0.7 ± 1.2, P = 0.34). The number of high quality reports was higher in intervention units than in control units (37 vs. 15 reports, 0.5 ± 0.9 vs. 0.2 ± 0.6, P = 0.048). According to the returned questionnaires (n = 1,292, response rate 57%), more persons in the intervention than in the control group had received (29% vs. 19%, P &lt; 0.0001) and read (31% vs. 26%, P &lt; 0.0001) an ADR information letter. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that repeated ADR information letters to physicians and nurses do not increase the ADR reporting rate, but may increase the number of high quality reports

Impact of information letters on the reporting rate of adverse drug reactions and the quality of the reports: a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is an important method for pharmacovigilance, but under-reporting and poor quality of reports are major limitations. The aim of this study was to evaluate if repeated one-page ADR information letters affect (i) the reporting rate of ADRs and (ii) the quality of the ADR reports. METHODS: All 151 primary healthcare units in the Region Västra Götaland, Sweden, were randomly allocated (1:1) to an intervention (n = 77) or a control group (n = 74). The intervention consisted of one-page ADR information letters administered at three occasions during 2008 to all physicians and nurses in the intervention units. The number of ADR reports received from the 151 units was registered, as was the quality of the reports, which was defined as high if the ADR was to be reported according to Swedish regulations, that is, if the ADR was (i) serious, (ii) unexpected, and/or (iii) related to the use of new drugs and not labelled as common in the Summary of Product Characteristics. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate if the ADR information letter had reached the intended recipient. RESULTS: Before the intervention, no significant differences in reporting rate or number of high quality reports could be detected between the randomization groups. In 2008, 79 reports were sent from 37 intervention units and 52 reports from 30 control units (mean number of reports per unit ± standard deviation: 1.0 ± 2.5 vs. 0.7 ± 1.2, P = 0.34). The number of high quality reports was higher in intervention units than in control units (37 vs. 15 reports, 0.5 ± 0.9 vs. 0.2 ± 0.6, P = 0.048). According to the returned questionnaires (n = 1,292, response rate 57%), more persons in the intervention than in the control group had received (29% vs. 19%, P &lt; 0.0001) and read (31% vs. 26%, P &lt; 0.0001) an ADR information letter. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that repeated ADR information letters to physicians and nurses do not increase the ADR reporting rate, but may increase the number of high quality reports

Reactivity of human omental blood vessels. Effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine, substance P and the intravenous anaesthetic propofol

Regulation of blood flow involves several endogenous substances and mechanisms, and exogenous substances may also affect the blood flow. In the present thesis, human omental blood vessels were investigated in vitro concerning (i) characteristics of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptors; (ii) mediators of substance P (SP)-induced relaxation; (iii) direct and indirect (via effects on sympathetic neurotransmission) effects of the intravenous anaesthetic propofol. In human omental arteries, contractile 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors were demonstrated. No evidence for contractile 5-HT3 or 5-HT4 and relaxing 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3 or 5-HT4 receptors was found. In human omental arteries and veins, SP-induced relaxation seems to be mediated via nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization, possibly due to activation of high conductance Ca2+-sensitive K+-channel (BKCa). Direct effects of propofol in human omental arteries and veins include relaxation of vascular smooth muscle mediated via endothelium-independent hyperpolarization and attenuation of the response to contractile agents. The hyperpolarization is possibly due to propofol-induced activation of BKCa. The propofol-induced attenuation of the response to contractile agents may be explained by a decreased release of intracellularly stored calcium rather than a decreased influx of calcium from the extracellular space. Propofol at clinical concentrations seems to enhance sympathetic neurotransmission in human omental arteries, but not veins. This may be due to an increased availability of noradrenaline (NA) in the neuromuscular junction, resulting from a reduced presynaptic reuptake. Propofol at probably supraclinical concentrations, on the other hand, seems to impair the sympathetic neurotransmission in both human omental arteries and veins, possibly due to an inhibitory effect on the NA release from the sympathetic nerves

The specialty clinical pharmacology needs to be examined separately to guarantee a sufficient level of knowledge in medical students

PurposeIn medical schools small specialties like clinical pharmacology may be integrated in courses covering larger specialties and examined concomitantly. The results of a pilot study suggested that this approach would have negative consequences on the knowledge gained in clinical pharmacology with integration of this speciality in the course of internal medicine and concomitant examination. The aim of the present study was to assess in more detail whether students’ presumed tendency to study selectively influences approval (the pass mark), a surrogate marker of the knowledge gained.MethodsA written examination for the integrated course in clinical pharmacology and internal medicine in Gothenburg, Sweden, was specifically designed in 2008 to evaluate the research question. The examination consisted of 50 short answer questions, of which five focused on clinical pharmacology (maximum score 10) and 45 were on internal medicine (maximum score 90). The cut-off level for approval (pass mark) was 60 %.ResultsOf the 81 students who wrote the examination, 73 (90.1 %) passed the examination as a whole. When the questions in clinical pharmacology were assessed separately, 62 (76.5 %) students passed the cut-off level of 60 %; the corresponding proportion of students achieving the cut-off level for questions on internal medicine was 90.1 %. There was a significant correlation between the results of the two specialties (