Consumer Reports - Best Buy Drugs’ Outreach Project in Minnesota

The objectives for this study were to apply four different approaches for disseminating Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs (CR-BBD) information about effectiveness, safety, and cost to patients for therapeutic classes of medications that they were using and then (1) evaluate the usefulness of the information to participants and (2) document resultant information seeking. For the three approaches that utilized face-to-face contact (Approaches 2 through 4), we also compared them in terms of (1) number of medications reviewed per person, (2) availability of CR-BBD information per person, (3) changes that could be made for each person, and (4) potential/likely cost savings (per person per month). Finally, we described the availability of CR-BBD information for each participant categorized by the 19 therapeutic classes of medications for which there were Best Buy Drugs reports. Data were collected via self-administered surveys, in-person interviews, and telephone interviews. The results showed that almost all of the participants in the information sessions held for this study had at least one medication for which Best Buy Drug information was available with significant savings potential to be gained by using the recommended Best Buy Drug. Potential cost savings through the use of recommended Best Buy Drugs was $89.47 per person per month averaged over all participants (n = 172) and was$157.20 per person per month for those with savings over zero dollars (n = 98). Thirty-two percent of respondents to our evaluation survey reportedly sought more information from a physician and 30 percent sought more information from a pharmacist. We concluded that provision of information about effectiveness, safety, and cost to patients has the potential for achieving significant cost savings. Recommendations regarding (1) the timing of provision, (2) targeting of recipients and (3) traversing impediments are given

Consumer Reports - Best Buy Drugs' Outreach Project in Minnesota

The objectives for this study were to apply four different approaches for disseminating Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs (CR-BBD) information about effectiveness, safety, and cost to patients for therapeutic classes of medications that they were using and then (1) evaluate the usefulness of the information to participants and (2) document resultant information seeking. For the three approaches that utilized face-to-face contact (Approaches 2 through 4), we also compared them in terms of (1) number of medications reviewed per person, (2) availability of CR-BBD information per person, (3) changes that could be made for each person, and (4) potential/likely cost savings (per person per month). Finally, we described the availability of CR-BBD information for each participant categorized by the 19 therapeutic classes of medications for which there were Best Buy Drugs reports. Data were collected via self-administered surveys, in-person interviews, and telephone interviews. The results showed that almost all of the participants in the information sessions held for this study had at least one medication for which Best Buy Drug information was available with significant savings potential to be gained by using the recommended Best Buy Drug. Potential cost savings through the use of recommended Best Buy Drugs was $89.47 per person per month averaged over all participants (n = 172) and was$157.20 per person per month for those with savings over zero dollars (n = 98). Thirty-two percent of respondents to our evaluation survey reportedly sought more information from a physician and 30 percent sought more information from a pharmacist. We concluded that provision of information about effectiveness, safety, and cost to patients has the potential for achieving significant cost savings. Recommendations regarding (1) the timing of provision, (2) targeting of recipients and (3) traversing impediments are given.   Type: Original Researc

Medication Information Seeking Behavior in a Social Context: The Role of Lay and Professional Social Network Contacts

This study provided a view of the social context of medication information seeking from a patient’s perspective.This was an exploratory qualitative study with 40 adults to determine how patients communicate within social networks to seek medication information. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine the structure (who), the content provided (what), and the function of social sources of information (how/why). Data underwent ethnographic content analysis using theory and prior research driven themes. Coding matrices were created to identify emerging patterns for who supplied what information and how the information was used. Participants described seeking medication information from health professional or lay social network sources. Health professional sources’ strongest role was to provide factual information. In contrast, lay sources provided factual information and affective information such as personal experiences and beliefs or attitudes. Information sought from social sources displayed similar functioning roles in terms of how the information was used by the participants seeking the information. The study concluded that medication information is sought from social sources both inside and outside of healthcare. Emerging patterns found that lay sources may provide patients more than affective information about medications. Further, patients may be receiving factually based information other than from health professionals. By coming to a more complete understanding of the social nature of the information environment, health professionals can better understand information needs from a patient’s perspective

Medication Information Seeking Behavior in a Social Context: The Role of Lay and Professional Social Network Contacts

This study provided a view of the social context of medication information seeking from a patient's perspective.This was an exploratory qualitative study with 40 adults to determine how patients communicate within social networks to seek medication information. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine the structure (who), the content provided (what), and the function of social sources of information (how/why). Data underwent ethnographic content analysis using theory and prior research driven themes. Coding matrices were created to identify emerging patterns for who supplied what information and how the information was used. Participants described seeking medication information from health professional or lay social network sources. Health professional sources' strongest role was to provide factual information. In contrast, lay sources provided factual information and affective information such as personal experiences and beliefs or attitudes. Information sought from social sources displayed similar functioning roles in terms of how the information was used by the participants seeking the information. The study concluded that medication information is sought from social sources both inside and outside of healthcare. Emerging patterns found that lay sources may provide patients more than affective information about medications. Further, patients may be receiving factually based information other than from health professionals. By coming to a more complete understanding of the social nature of the information environment, health professionals can better understand information needs from a patient's perspective.   Type: Original Researc

Medication Information Seeking Behavior in a Social Context: The Role of Lay and Professional Social Network Contacts

This study provided a view of the social context of medication information seeking from a patient's perspective.This was an exploratory qualitative study with 40 adults to determine how patients communicate within social networks to seek medication information. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine the structure (who), the content provided (what), and the function of social sources of information (how/why). Data underwent ethnographic content analysis using theory and prior research driven themes. Coding matrices were created to identify emerging patterns for who supplied what information and how the information was used. Participants described seeking medication information from health professional or lay social network sources. Health professional sources' strongest role was to provide factual information. In contrast, lay sources provided factual information and affective information such as personal experiences and beliefs or attitudes. Information sought from social sources displayed similar functioning roles in terms of how the information was used by the participants seeking the information. The study concluded that medication information is sought from social sources both inside and outside of healthcare. Emerging patterns found that lay sources may provide patients more than affective information about medications. Further, patients may be receiving factually based information other than from health professionals. By coming to a more complete understanding of the social nature of the information environment, health professionals can better understand information needs from a patient's perspective.   Type: Original Researc

Science, Innovation, and Innovation in the Science of Pharmacy

Type: Invitatio

Antidepressant Use Amongst College Students: Findings of a Phenomenological Study

Background: Depression among college students is an escalating problem and could have serious consequences such as suicide. There has been an increase in use of antidepressants on college campuses in United States. However, an in depth understanding of this phenomenon from the college student’s perspective is lacking in the literature. Objective: This study examined college students’ experiences and treatment decision making during their depression treatment. Methods: A longitudinal, phenomenological research methodology was completed. The participants were nine students who were taking antidepressants for diagnosis of depression. Recruitment was done via brochures placed at University bulletin boards, and a mental health clinic. Three audio taped, unstructured interviews were conducted with each participant over four months. The central question asked was: What has the experience of treating depression been for you? Analysis of text was done using Van Manen’s lifeworld existentials of lived body, lived time, lived relation and lived space as the organizing framework. Results: Thirteen themes were identified within the four lifeworlds. The results showed that lived relation with providers was important for college students’ decision to both initiate and continue antidepressant use. Students’ role was defined in conjunction with provider’s role by them as wanting to be a ‘player’ in their treatment decisions and needing to be ‘acknowledged’ as such by their providers. Conclusions: Overall, the underlying essential theme of ‘autonomy’ was portrayed by the students’ experiential accounts of their depression treatment and treatment decision making

Antidepressant Use Amongst College Students: Findings of a Phenomenological Study

Background: Depression among college students is an escalating problem and could have serious consequences such as suicide. There has been an increase in use of antidepressants on college campuses in United States. However, an in depth understanding of this phenomenon from the college student's perspective is lacking in the literature. Objective: This study examined college students' experiences and treatment decision making during their depression treatment. Methods: A longitudinal, phenomenological research methodology was completed. The participants were nine students who were taking antidepressants for diagnosis of depression. Recruitment was done via brochures placed at University bulletin boards, and a mental health clinic. Three audio taped, unstructured interviews were conducted with each participant over four months. The central question asked was: What has the experience of treating depression been for you? Analysis of text was done using Van Manen's lifeworld existentials of lived body, lived time, lived relation and lived space as the organizing framework. Results: Thirteen themes were identified within the four lifeworlds. The results showed that lived relation with providers was important for college students' decision to both initiate and continue antidepressant use. Students' role was defined in conjunction with provider's role by them as wanting to be a 'player' in their treatment decisions and needing to be 'acknowledged' as such by their providers. Conclusions: Overall, the underlying essential theme of ‘autonomy’ was portrayed by the students’ experiential accounts of their depression treatment and treatment decision making.   Type: Original Researc

A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals.

The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ∼4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ∼60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease