Repeat Prescribing in the Elderly. A Case for Audit?

1984 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Nicol ◽  
H. Gebbie

An audit of repeat drug prescriptions in 531 elderly patients in an urban practice was undertaken. Two thirds of the patients (64%) were receiving repeat prescriptions at time of review and had been doing so for up to 20 years (mean 5.3 years). Individual practitioners' rates of starting repeat prescriptions and monitoring them were reviewed. The data revealed that drug prescription in this highly susceptible group was not being adequately monitored and stimulated the introduction of repeat prescription cards.

Author(s):  
E.A. Panova ◽  
V.A. Serov ◽  
A.M. Shutov ◽  
N.N. Bakumtseva ◽  
M.Yu. Kuzovenkova

The aim of the work is to study the daily practice of prescribing drugs at the outpatient stage of medical care and to analyze the data obtained based Beers 2012 criteria and STOPP / START version 1. Materials and Methods. The authors analyzed drug prescriptions for 150 outpatients, who were over 65 years old. Results. Cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the osteo-articular system and type 2 diabetes mellitus prevailed in the morbidity structure of patients. Oncological diseases, thyroid diseases, bronchial asthma, cataracts, pancreatitis, anemia, peptic ulcer disease were diagnosed in some patients. All drug prescriptions during the year were taken into account. Simultaneous prescription of more than 4 drugs was considered polypharmacy. All the patients were monitored for a year since drug prescriptions had been made. Death was taken as the end point. The authors considered drug therapy to be irrational according to Beers and STOPP / START criteria. The therapeutic value of drug prescription audit based on restrictive lists was evaluated. Conclusions. Polypharmacy is observed in more than half of elderly outpatients. According to Beers 2012 criteria, irrational drug therapy was detected in 20 % of elderly patients, according to STOPP and START lists – in 43.3 % and 66.6 %, respectively. The lack of drug prescriptions in accordance with START criteria is associated with increased mortality of elderly patients. Keywords: polypharmacy, pharmacotherapy, drug therapy, geriatrics, restrictive lists, Beers criteria, STOPP / START criteria. Цель работы – изучение ежедневной практики назначения лекарственных препаратов на амбулаторном этапе медицинской помощи и анализ полученных данных на основе критериев ограничительных перечней Бирса 2012 г. и STOPP/START версии 1. Материалы и методы. Проанализированы лекарственные назначения 150 пациентам старше 65 лет, находившимся на амбулаторном лечении. Результаты. В структуре заболеваемости пациентов преобладали сердечно-сосудистые заболевания, а также болезни костно-суставной системы и сахарный диабет 2-го типа. Онкологические заболевания, заболевания щитовидной железы, бронхиальная астма, катаракта, панкреатит, анемия, язвенная болезнь диагностированы у единичных больных. Учитывались все лекарственные назначения в течение года. За полипрагмазию принималось одновременное назначение более 4 препаратов. В течение последующего года отслеживалось состояние пациентов, за конечную точку принята смерть. Выявлена нерациональная лекарственная терапия на основе критериев Бирса и STOPP/START. Оценена терапевтическая значимость аудита лекарственных назначений по ограничительным перечням. Выводы. Полипрагмазия наблюдается более чем у половины амбулаторных пациентов пожилого возраста. На основе критериев ограничительных перечней Бирса 2012 г. нерациональная лекарственная терапия выявлена у 20 % пациентов пожилого возраста, на основе критериев STOPP и START – у 43,3 и 66,6 % соответственно. Отсутствие назначений лекарств в соответствии с критериями START ассоциировано с увеличением смертности пациентов пожилого возраста. Ключевые слова: полипрагмазия, фармакотерапия, лекарственная терапия, гериатрия, ограничительные перечни, критерии Бирса, критерии STOPP/START.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A41.1-A41
Author(s):  
M Pinturaud ◽  
M Rannou ◽  
M Mutombo ◽  
E Desaintfucien ◽  
C Bonenfant

2004 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Baleeiro Teixeira Braga ◽  
Grace Pfaffenbach ◽  
Débora Peterson Leite Weiss ◽  
Marilisa Berti de Azevedo Barros ◽  
Gun Bergsten-Mendes

CONTEXT: Age-related pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes have been extensively documented, and several concurrent diseases may underlie multiple drug therapy in the elderly. As a result, the risk of adverse drug reactions and drug interactions increases among aged patients. However, only a few studies have compared the prescribing patterns for different age groups of hospitalized patients or have evaluated the effect of age on drug prescription. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of drug prescriptions for elderly inpatients, with those for non-elderly inpatients, in order to assess age-related differences in the number of prescribed drugs, drug choices and prescribed doses, and to evaluate the prescription appropriateness for the elderly patients. TYPE OF STUDY: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: 400-bed tertiary care general teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: All inpatients on one day of June 1995, except for the Intensive Care Unit and for the Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. PROCEDURES: All medicines prescribed to the eligible patients on the study day were recorded from the prescription sheets provided by the hospital pharmacy. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Name, therapeutic class, and mean daily dose of the prescribed drugs. RESULTS: Of the 273 eligible inpatients, 46.5% were 14-44 years old, 33% were 45-64 years old and 20.5% were > 64 years old. Cancer was significantly more frequent among the elderly. The mean number of prescribed drugs was five for all age groups. The five most prescribed drugs for all patients were dipyrone, ranitidine, dipyrone in a fixed-dose combination, metoclopramide and cefazolin. The elderly had significantly more prescriptions for insulin, furosemide and enoxaparin. For most drugs, the mean prescribed dose showed that there was no dose adjustment for elderly patients, and drug choices for this age group were sometimes questionable. CONCLUSIONS: There was little variation in the prescribing patterns for the elderly when compared with the other age strata.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
R VIDALPEREZ ◽  
E ABUASSI ◽  
M PARAMODEVEGA ◽  
P VELOSO ◽  
A VARELAROMAN ◽  
...  

1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (04) ◽  
pp. 310-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Séné ◽  
I. de Zegher ◽  
C. Milstein ◽  
S. Errore ◽  
F de Rosis ◽  
...  

Abstract:Currently, there is no widely accepted structured representation of drug prescription. Nevertheless, a structured representation is required for entering and storing drug prescriptions avoiding free text in computerized systems, and for drug prescription reviews. Derived from part of the work of the European OPADE project, we describe an object-oriented model of drug prescription which incorporates important concepts such as the phase and triggering event concepts. This model can be used to record all drug prescriptions, including infusions, in a structured way avoiding free text. The phase concept allows the storage of sequentially ordered dosage regimens for a drug within the same prescription. The prescription triggering event concept allows recording of the administration of a drug conditional to dates, symptoms and clinical signs, medical procedures, and everyday life events. This model has been implemented within the OPADE project; the corresponding aspects of the user interface are presented to show how this model can be used in practice. Even if other new attributes may be added to the described objects, the structure of this model is suitable for general use in software which requires the entry, storage and processing of drug prescriptions.


MedPharmRes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Truc Phan ◽  
Tram Huynh ◽  
Tuan Q. Tran ◽  
Dung Co ◽  
Khoi M. Tran

Introduction: Little information is available on the outcomes of R-CHOP (rituximab with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) and R-CVP (rituximab with cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone) in treatment of the elderly patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), especially in Vietnam. Material and methods: All patients were newly diagnosed with CD20-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) at Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital, Ho Chi Minh city (BTH) between 01/2013 and 01/2018 who were age 60 years or older at diagnosis. A retrospective analysis of these patients was perfomed. Results: Twenty-one Vietnamese patients (6 males and 15 females) were identified and the median age was 68.9 (range 60-80). Most of patients have comorbidities and intermediate-risk. The most common sign was lymphadenopathy (over 95%). The proportion of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was highest (71%). The percentage of patients reaching complete response (CR) after six cycle of chemotherapy was 76.2%. The median follow-up was 26 months, event-free survival (EFS) was 60% and overall survival (OS) was 75%. Adverse effects of rituximab were unremarkable, treatment-related mortality accounted for less than 10%. There was no difference in drug toxicity between two regimens. Conclusions: R-CHOP, R-CVP yielded a good result and acceptable toxicity in treatment of elderly patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In patients with known cardiac history, omission of anthracyclines is reasonable and R-CVP provides a competitive complete response rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1466-1472
Author(s):  
Grażyna Kobus ◽  
Jolanta Małyszko ◽  
Hanna Bachórzewska-Gajewska

Introduction: In the elderly, impairment of kidney function occurs. Renal diseases overlap with anatomic and functional changes related to age-related involutionary processes. Mortality among patients with acute renal injury is approximately 50%, despite advances in treatment and diagnosis of AKI. The aim: To assess the incidence of acute kidney injury in elderly patients and to analyze the causes of acute renal failure depending on age. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis included medical documentation of patients hospitalized in the Nephrology Clinic during the 6-month period. During this period 452 patients were hospitalized in the clinic. A group of 77 patients with acute renal failure as a reason for hospitalization was included in the study. Results: The prerenal form was the most common cause of AKI in both age groups. In both age groups, the most common cause was dehydration; in the group of patients up to 65 years of age, dehydration was 29.17%; in the group of people over 65 years - 43.39%. Renal replacement therapy in patients with AKI was used in 14.29% of patients. In the group of patients up to 65 years of age hemodialysis was 16.67% and above 65 years of age. -13.21% of patients. The average creatinine level in the group of younger patients at admission was 5.16 ± 3.71 mg / dl, in the group of older patients 3.14 ± 1.63 mg / dl. The size of glomerular filtration GFR in the group of younger patients at admission was 21.14 ± 19.54 ml / min, in the group of older patients 23.34 ± 13.33 ml / min. Conclusions: The main cause of acute kidney injury regardless of the age group was dehydration. Due to the high percentage of AKI in the elderly, this group requires more preventive action, not only in the hospital but also at home.


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