Pharmacist Intervention Enhances Adherence to Orlistat Therapy

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1598-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Malone ◽  
Sharon A Alger-Mayer

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists, especially those in community practice, should increase their level of intervention in dealing with the nationwide epidemic of obesity since they interact with large numbers of the public on a regular basis. We hypothesized that patients who receive medication for weight loss may have an improved therapeutic outcome if they received additional support from their community pharmacist. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of pharmacist support on patient persistence with orlistat. METHODS: Pharmacists were trained in basic obesity management skills. Patients who were prescribed orlistat and attending an outpatient nutrition program were invited to participate in the study. All patients agreed to receive pharmaceutical care. Those who lived where the service was available were assigned to the intervention (I) group and those who did not were assigned to the control (C) group. All patients received usual care provided by the outpatient clinic. RESULTS: Thirty patients, 15 in the I group and 15 in the C group, were recruited. Both groups were predominantly women (87%) with a mean ± SD age of 43.8 ± 9.7 years. Patients in the I group had significantly greater persistence with orlistat therapy as assessed by duration of therapy (p = 0.006) and number of patients completing the 26-week study (7 I, 2 C; p = 0.046). There was no significant difference in percent of weight loss between groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, patients receiving pharmaceutical care took orlistat longer than the controls and had improved outcome with orlistat therapy.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S144-S144
Author(s):  
Azza Elamin ◽  
Faisal Khan ◽  
Ali Abunayla ◽  
Rajasekhar Jagarlamudi ◽  
aditee Dash

Abstract Background As opposed to Staphylococcus. aureus bacteremia, there are no guidelines to recommend repeating blood cultures in Gram-negative bacilli bacteremia (GNB). Several studies have questioned the utility of follow-up blood cultures (FUBCs) in GNB, but the impact of this practice on clinical outcomes is not fully understood. Our aim was to study the practice of obtaining FUBCs in GNB at our institution and to assess it’s impact on clinical outcomes. Methods We conducted a retrospective, single-center study of adult patients, ≥ 18 years of age admitted with GNB between January 2017 and December 2018. We aimed to compare clinical outcomes in those with and without FUBCs. Data collected included demographics, comorbidities, presumed source of bacteremia and need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Presence of fever, hypotension /shock and white blood cell (WBC) count on the day of FUBC was recorded. The primary objective was to compare 30-day mortality between the two groups. Secondary objectives were to compare differences in 30-day readmission rate, hospital length of stay (LOS) and duration of antibiotic treatment. Mean and standard deviation were used for continuous variables, frequency and proportion were used for categorical variables. P-value < 0.05 was defined as statistically significant. Results 482 patients were included, and of these, 321 (67%) had FUBCs. 96% of FUBCs were negative and 2.8% had persistent bacteremia. There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality between those with and without FUBCs (2.9% and 2.7% respectively), or in 30-day readmission rate (21.4% and 23.4% respectively). In patients with FUBCs compared to those without FUBCs, hospital LOS was longer (7 days vs 5 days, P < 0.001), and mean duration of antibiotic treatment was longer (14 days vs 11 days, P < 0.001). A higher number of patients with FUBCs needed ICU care compared to those without FUBCs (41.4% and 25.5% respectively, P < 0.001) Microbiology of index blood culture in those with and without FUBCs Outcomes in those with and without FUBCs FUBCs characteristics Conclusion Obtaining FUBCs in GNB had no impact on 30-day mortality or 30-day readmission rate. It was associated with longer LOS and antibiotic duration. Our findings suggest that FUBCs in GNB are low yield and may not be recommended in all patients. Prospective studies are needed to further examine the utility of this practice in GNB. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R King ◽  
D Giedrimiene

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background The management of patients with multiple comorbidities represents a significant burden on healthcare each year. Despite requiring regular medical care to treat chronic conditions, a large number of these patients may not receive proper care. Significant disparities have been identified in patients with multiple comorbidities and those who experience acute coronary syndrome or acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Only limited data exists to identify the impact of comorbidities and utilization of primary care physician (PCP) services on the development of adverse outcomes, such as AMI. Purpose The primary objective was to analyze how PCP services utilization can be associated with comorbidities in patients who experienced an AMI. Methods This study was based on retrospective data analysis which included 250 patients admitted to the Hartford Hospital Emergency Department (ED) for an AMI. Out of these, 27 patients were excluded due to missing documentation. Collected data included age, gender, medications and recorded comorbidities, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD) and previous arrhythmia. Each patient was assessed regarding utilization of PCP services. Statistical analysis was performed in order to identify differences between patients with documented PCP services and those without by using the Chi-square test. Results The records allowed for identification of documented PCP services for 172 out of 223 (77.1%) patients. The most common comorbidities were hypertension and hyperlipidemia: in 165 (74.0%) and 157 (70.4%) cases respectively. The most frequent comorbidity was hypertension: 137 out of 172 (79.7%) in pts with PCP vs 28 out of 51 (54.9%) without PCP, and significantly more often in patients with PCP, p< 0.001. Hyperlipidemia was the second most frequent comorbidity: in 130 out of 172 (75.6%) vs 27 out of 51 (52.9%) accordingly, and also significantly more often (p< 0.002) in patients with PCP services. The number of comorbidities ranged from 0-5, including 32 (14.3%) patients without comorbidities: 16 (9.3%) with a PCP and 16 (31.4%) without PCP services. The majority of patients - 108 (48.5% of 223), had 2-3 documented comorbidities: 89 (51.8%) had two and 19 (34.6%) had three. The remaining 40 (17.9%) patients had 4-5 comorbidities: 37 (21.5%) of them with a PCP and 3 (10.3%) without, with a significant difference (p < 0.001) found for patients with a higher number of comorbidities who utilized PCP services. Conclusions Our study shows that the majority of patients who presented with an AMI had one or more comorbidities. Furthermore, patients who did not utilize PCP services had fewer identified comorbidities. This suggests that there may be a significant number of patients who experienced AMI with undiagnosed comorbidities due to not having access to PCP services.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun-Ku Lin ◽  
Chien-Tung Wu ◽  
Chia-Jen Liu ◽  
Hui-Jer Chou ◽  
Fu-Yang Ko ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Large-scale epidemics have changed people’s medical behavior, and patients tend to delay non-urgent medical needs. However, the impact of the pandemic on the use of complementary and alternative medicine remains unknown. Methods: This retrospective study aimed to analyze the changes in the number of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) patients and examine the epidemic prevention policy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We analyzed the number of TCM patients in Taipei City Hospital from January 2017 to May 2020. We tallied the numbers of patients in each month and compared them with those in the same months last year. We calculated the percentage difference in the number of patients to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TCM utilization. We used the Mann­–Whitney U test to examine whether there was a significant difference in the number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: We included a total of 41 months and 1,935,827 patients in this study. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients decreased significantly, except in February 2020. The numbers of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic had fallen by more than 15% compared with those in the same months last year. March and April had the greatest number of patient losses, with falls of 32.8% and 40%, respectively. TCM patients declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mobile medicine provided to rural areas fell considerably. Among all the TCM specialties, pediatrics and traumatology, as well as infertility treatment, witnessed the most significant decline in the number of patients. However, the number of cancer patients has reportedly increased. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic decreased the utilization rate of TCM, especially for mobile healthcare in rural areas. We suggest that the government pay attention to the medical disparity between urban and rural areas, which are affected by the pandemic, as well as allocate adequate resources in areas deprived of medical care.


2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Tomas Abalikšta ◽  
Gintautas Brimas ◽  
Kęstutis Strupas

Tomas Abalikšta, Gintautas Brimas, Kęstutis Strupas Vilniaus universiteto Medicinos fakultetas, M. K. Čiurlionio g. 21, LT-03101 VilniusVilniaus universiteto ligoninės Santariškių klinikų Pilvo chirurgijos centras,Santariškių g. 2, LT-08661 VilniusEl. paštas: [email protected] Darbo tikslas: Remiantis literatūros duomenimis palyginti skirtingas skrandžio apjuosimo reguliuojamas juostas, naudojamas chirurginiam nutukimo gydymui. Tyriamoji medžiaga ir metodai: Publikacijų paieška atlikta elektroninėse MEDLINE, Current Contents ir Cochrane Library duomenų bazėse. Apžvelgtos visos skrandį apjuosiančių reguliuojamų juostų lyginamųjų studijų publikacijos, paskelbtos iki 2010 m. sausio 1 d. Rezultatai: Atlikus literatūros šaltinių paiešką rasta 10 publikacijų, lyginančių skirtingas skrandį apjuosiančias reguliuojamas juostas. Išsamiai atlikta viena studija: perspektyvi, atsitiktinių imčių, jos tiriamųjų skaičius didelis ir stebėjimo laikotarpis ilgas, įvertinti visi gydymo rezultatai. Statistiškai reikšmingo skirtumo tarp SAGB ir LAP-BAND juostų šioje studijoje nerasta. Kitos lyginamosios juostų studijos turi trūkumų: keturios buvo ne atsitiktinių imčių (dvi iš jų retrospektyvios), trijose tiriamųjų imtis maža, visų stebėjimo laikas trumpas. Vienoje iš šių studijų nustatytas kūno masės kritimo skirtumas tarp grupių: LAP-BAND grupėje pradinė viršnorminė kūno masė sumažėjo 41,7 %, Heliogast – 28,3 %. Mechaninių juostų komplikacijų dažnis skyrėsi vienoje studijoje: LAP-BAND – 7 %, SAGB – 1 %. Skirtumas tarp „mažo skrandžio“ išsiplėtimo arba juostos nuslinkimo dažnio rastas trijose studijose (MiniMizer Extra – 0 % ir LAP-BAND – 10,8 %; SAGB – 2,4 % ir LAP-BAND – 27,6 %; SAGB – 2 % ir LAP-BAND – 23 %). Skirtumo tarp gretutinių ligų ir gyvenimo kokybės pokyčio, hospitalizacijos trukmės, juostos reguliavimų skaičiaus/dažnio, juostos penetracijos/migracijos į skrandį bei infekcinių komplikacijų dažnio nerasta. Išvados: Tik viena studija atlikta laikantis šiuolaikinių įrodymais pagrįstos medicinos keliamų reikalavimų, skirtumo tarp lygintų juostų nerasta. Reikalingos perspektyvios, atsitiktinių imčių ilgalaikės (>5 metų) lyginamosios studijos, vertinančios juostų konstrukcijos ar formos skirtumų įtaką gydymo efektyvumui ar komplikacijoms. Reikšminiai žodžiai: nutukimas, bariatrinė chirurgija, skrandžio apjuosimo reguliuojama juosta operacija. Adjustable gastric bands: review of comparative studies Tomas Abalikšta, Gintautas Brimas, Kęstutis Strupas Vilnius University Medical Faculty, M. K. Čiurlionio Str. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, LithuaniaVilnius University Hospital Santariškių Klinikos Centre of Abdominal Surgery,Santariškių Str. 2, LT-08661 Vilnius, LithuaniaEl. paštas: [email protected] Objective: The objective of this review is to compare different adjustable gastric bands according to the data of comparative studies. Materials and Methods: A search of articles published in any language before January 2010 was carried out through the MEDLINE, Current Contents and Cochrane Library electronic databases. All articles about comparative studies of different adjustable gastric bands were eligible for review. All possible data were extracted from accepted studies and reviewed. Results: Ten comparative studies of different adjustable gastric bands were accepted. Only one comparative study of the bands was accomplished properly. It was a prospective randomised study type with a large number of patients and a long follow-up period with all possible results evaluated. No statistically significant difference between SAGB and LAP-BAND gastric bands was found in this study. The other band studies had shortcomings: four studies were non-randomised (two of them retrospective), a small number of patients in three studies, and a too short follow-up period in all studies. The difference in weight loss was stated in one of these studies: 41.7% of initial excess weight loss in the LAP-BAND group and 28.3% in the Heliogast group. Band leakage frequency was different in one study: LAP-BAND – 7%, SAGB – 1%. A difference between pouch dilatation or band slippage frequency was found in three studies (MiniMizer Extra – 0% and LAP-BAND – 10.8%; SAGB – 2.4% and LAP-BAND – 27.6%; SAGB – 2% and LAP-BAND – 23%). There was no difference between the resolution of comorbidities, improvement of the quality of life, hospital stay, band adjustment frequency, band migration or band infection rate. Conclusion: Only one accepted study was accomplished properly. There was no difference between compared adjustable gastric bands in this study. Prospective randomised long-term (more than 5 years) comparative studies are needed for a proper evaluation of band construction or shape influence on weight loss and complications. Keywords: obesity, bariatric surgery, adjustable gastric banding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Elkadi ◽  
Eleanor Dodd ◽  
Theodore Poulton ◽  
William Bolton ◽  
Joshua Burke ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Despite being the most common surgical procedure, there is wide variation that exists in the management of simple subcutaneous abscesses with no national guideline describing best practice. During the COVID-19 Pandemic national guidelines promoted the use of regional or local anaesthetic (LA) instead of general anaesthesia (GA) to avoid aerosol generating intubation associated with GA. This study aimed to assess the impact of anaesthetic choice in outcomes following incision and drainage of subcutaneous abscesses. Methods Two cohorts of patients undergoing abscess incision and drainage at St. James’ University Hospital Leeds were retrospectively identified over a 14-week period before and after the introduction of the new COVID-19 anaesthetic guidelines. Wound healing surrogate endpoints were used: i) total number of follow up appointments and ii) attendance to healthcare services after 30 days from I&D. Result 133 patients were included. Significantly more procedures were performed under LA after the intervention (84.1% vs 5.7%; p < 0.0001) with a significant reduction in wound packing (68.3% vs 87.1%. p=0.00473). Follow up data found no significant difference in the average number of follow-up appointments (7.46 vs 5.11; p = 0.0731) and the number of patients who required ongoing treatment after 30 days (n = 14 vs n = 14, p = 0.921). Conclusion Drainage of simple subcutaneous abscess under 5 cm is safe under local anaesthetic with no significant difference in surrogate endpoints of wound healing observed in this patient cohort. Recurrent packing may not be required. Future work should explore patient reported measures such as pain management and the health economics of this intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 2006-2006
Author(s):  
Rifaquat Rahman ◽  
Lorenzo Trippa ◽  
Geoffrey Fell ◽  
Eudocia Quant Lee ◽  
Isabel Arrillaga-Romany ◽  
...  

2006 Background: Adaptive randomization adjusts enrollment rates based upon early trial results, which can allow for decreased enrollment for therapies less likely to meet the primary endpoint of a trial. CC-115, a CNS-penetrant, oral inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR) and deoxyribonucleic acid-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), was evaluated in the Individualized Screening Trial of Innovative Glioblastoma Therapy (INSIGhT) trial. As CC-115 was discontinued due to concerns about toxicity and unfavorable risk-to-benefit ratio, we sought to investigate the impact of adaptive randomization in its testing. Methods: In INSIGhT, adults with newly diagnosed MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma and available genomic data are adaptively randomized to an experimental arm or the control arm of standard radiotherapy with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide. Patients randomized to CC-115 received it (10mg po BID) with radiotherapy and as adjuvant monotherapy, and a safety lead-in 3+3 design was used for this arm. By simulating the INSIGhT trial with standard uniform randomization, we estimated the reduction of enrollment rate and sample size of the CC-115 arm that was attributable to adaptive randomization. Results: Twelve patients were randomized to CC-115; 58% (n = 7) patients had possible treatment-related CTCAE grade > 3 toxicity. Compared to the control arm, there was no significant difference in progression-free survival (PFS, HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.32-1.36, p = 0.3) or overall survival (OS, HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.43-2.03, p = 0.8). Based on early PFS results, randomization probability to CC-115 decreased from 25% to 16%. At the time of the CC-115 arm closure, 14% of enrolled INSIGhT patients had been randomized to this arm. Compared to average expected enrollment by standard randomization, the use of adaptive randomization decreased the number of patients randomized to CC-115 by 50% (12 patients vs. 18 patients [95% CI 11-25 patients]). Conclusions: The INSIGhT trial, designed with adaptive randomization, facilitated more efficient testing of CC-115 and decreased the number of patients allocated to the CC-115 arm relative to a standard randomization design. Clinical trial information: NCT02977780.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samra Bashir ◽  
Akash Syed

The role of pharmacist intervention as a cost-effective alternative to physician in disease management is increasingly been recognized. Studies have demonstrated that pharmaceutical care can improve drug therapy as well as patient satisfaction in chronic health conditions including cardiovascular diseases. This study is aimed to review and outline a comprehensive pharmaceutical care plan from the randomized controlled trials previously conducted to assess the impact of pharmacist-managed care on disease outcomes in hypertensive patients. Compared with usual care, the pharmaceutical intervention involved patient evaluation, patient education and counselling, medication review and management, patient monitoring and follow-up, and feedback to the primary physician as major strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Alfieri ◽  
M Nardi ◽  
V Moretto ◽  
E Pinto ◽  
M Briarava ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim To investigate whether preoperative malnutrition is associated with long term outcome and survival in patients undergoing radical oesophagectomy for oesophageal or oesophagogastric junction cancer. Background & Methods Dysphagia, weight loss, chemo-radiationtherapy frequently lead to malnutrition in patients with oesophageal or oesophagogastric junction cancer. Severe malnutrition is associated with higher risk of postoperative complications but little is known on the correlation with long term survival. We conducted a single center retrospective study on a prospectively collected database of patients undergoing oesophagectomy from 2008 and 2012 in order to evaluate the impact of preoperative malnutrition with postoperative outcome and long term survival. Preoperative malnutrition was classified as: prealbumin level less than 220 mg/dL (PL), MUST index (Malnutrition Universal Screeening Tool) >2 and weight loss >10%. Results 177 consecutive patients were considered: due to incomplete data 60 were excluded from the analysis that was performed on 117 patients. PL was reported in 52 (44%) patients, MUST index was recorded in 62 (53%), 58 (49%) patients presented more than 10% weight loss at the preoperative evaluation. PL was associated with more postoperative Clavien-Dindo 1-2 complications (p=0.048, OR 2.35 95%IC 1.001-5.50), no differences were observed in mortality, anastomotic leak, major pulmonary complications. MUST index was not correlated with postoperative complications nor mortality but resulted worse in patients treated with chemo-radiotherapy (p=0.046, OR 1.92 95%CI 1.011-3.64). Weight loss >10% was not associated with postoperative complications or mortality. Overall 7 years survival rate was 69%. and DFS was 68%. Malnourished patients did not differ from non-malnourished regarding age, sex, tumor site, tumor stage and histology. No significant difference in 7 years survival rates was observed in patients with PL <220 mg/dL ( 55 % vs 67%), neither in patients with MUST score>2 (58% vs 72%), nor in patients with weight loss >10% (53% vs 70%). Conclusions Malnutrition is more common in patients treated with chemoradiation therapy and it is associated with postoperative complications. However, both long term and disease free survival are not affected by preoperative nutritional status. Larger patient population and data on long term postoperative nutritional status will be analyzed in further studies.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1509
Author(s):  
Manuela Spurny ◽  
Yixin Jiang ◽  
Solomon A. Sowah ◽  
Ruth Schübel ◽  
Tobias Nonnenmacher ◽  
...  

Background: Bone marrow fat is implicated in metabolism, bone health and haematological diseases. Thus, this study aims to analyse the impact of moderate weight loss on bone marrow fat content (BMFC) in obese, healthy individuals. Methods: Data of the HELENA-Trial (Healthy nutrition and energy restriction as cancer prevention strategies: a randomized controlled intervention trial), a randomized controlled trial (RCT) among 137 non-smoking, overweight or obese participants, were analysed to quantify the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-derived BMFC at baseline, after a 12-week dietary intervention phase, and after a 50-week follow-up. The study cohort was classified into quartiles based on changes in body weight between baseline and week 12. Changes in BMFC in respect of weight loss were analysed by linear mixed models. Spearman’s coefficients were used to assess correlations between anthropometric parameters, blood biochemical markers, blood cells and BMFC. Results: Relative changes in BMFC from baseline to week 12 were 0.0 ± 0.2%, −3.2 ± 0.1%, −6.1 ± 0.2% and −11.5 ± 0.6% for Q1 to Q4. Across all four quartiles and for the two-group comparison, Q1 versus Q4, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) for changes in BMFC. BMFC was not associated with blood cell counts and showed only weaker correlations (<0.3) with metabolic biomarkers. Conclusion: Weight loss is associated with a decrease of BMFC. However, BMFC showed no stronger associations with inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 746-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiuri E Kroese ◽  
Leonidas Tapias ◽  
Jacqueline K Olive ◽  
Lena E Trager ◽  
Christopher R Morse

Abstract OBJECTIVES: Adequate nutrition is challenging after oesophagectomy. A jejunostomy is commonly placed during oesophagectomy for nutritional support. However, some patients develop jejunostomy-related complications and the benefit over oral nutrition alone is unclear. This study aims to assess jejunostomy-related complications and the impact of intraoperative jejunostomy placement on weight loss and perioperative outcomes in patients with oesophageal cancer treated with minimally invasive Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy (MIE). METHODS: From a prospectively maintained database, patients were identified who underwent MIE with gastric reconstruction. Between 2007 and 2016, a jejunostomy was routinely placed during MIE. After 2016, a jejunostomy was not utilized. Postoperative feeding was performed according to a standardized protocol and similar for both groups. The primary outcomes were jejunostomy-related complications, relative weight loss at 3 and 6 months postoperative and perioperative outcomes, including anastomotic leak, pneumonia and length of stay, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 188 patients were included, of whom 135 patients (72%) received a jejunostomy. Ten patients (7.4%) developed jejunostomy-related complications, of whom 30% developed more than 1 complication. There was no significant difference in weight loss between groups at 3 months (P = 0.73) and 6 months postoperatively (P = 0.68) and in perioperative outcomes (P-value >0.999, P = 0.591 and P = 0.513, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The use of a routine intraoperative jejunostomy appears to be an unnecessary step in patients undergoing MIE. Intraoperative jejunostomy placement is associated with complications without improving weight loss or perioperative outcomes. Its use should be tailored to individual patient characteristics. Early oral nutrition allows patients to maintain an adequate nutritional status.


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