Community pharmacists' views towards implementing a patient self-administered screening tool designed to identify risk of medication-related problems.

Objective: There is limited information regarding community pharmacists' perspectives on implementing a self-administered screening tool for identifying patients at risk of medication-related problems. This study assessed Australian pharmacists' views on introducing such a tool within the community pharmacy setting.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among Australian community pharmacists from March to May 2023.

Vancomycin Dosing in Patients on Intermittent Hemodialysis-A Retrospective Study.

Purpose: To determine the incidence of therapeutic target attainment using a three-times per week protocol for vancomycin therapy given during the last hour of intermittent hemodialysis (HD).

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted of patient medical records in a remote dialysis center from January 2017 to July 2023. Adult patients with chronic kidney disease stage 5 on ≥3 months of intermittent HD who had received a course of vancomycin therapy with ≥1 serum vancomycin concentration recorded were included.

Adverse Drug Event-Related Hospital Admissions among Australian Aged Care Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: To investigate the proportion, characteristics, causality, severity, preventability, and independently associated factors for adverse drug event (ADE)-related admissions in aged care residents admitted to the major public hospitals in Tasmania, Australia.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: Residential aged care facility (RACF) patients aged ≥65 years who had an unplanned admission to one of the 4 Tasmanian public hospitals between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2021.

Predictors of Adverse Drug Reaction-Related Hospitalisations Among People with Dementia: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Introduction: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are common among people with dementia; however, little is known about the magnitude and predictors associated with ADR-related hospitalisation among these individuals. This study aimed to determine the magnitude, types, drugs implicated and predictors of ADRs associated with hospitalisation among people with dementia.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study analysed medical records of individuals aged ≥ 65 years with dementia admitted to major public hospitals in Tasmania, Australia, from July 2010 to July 2021.

Community Pharmacists' Role in Reducing the Incidence of Cardiometabolic Adverse Drug Events in Schizophrenia: Insights from Mental Health Professionals.

Schizophrenia, a debilitating mental illness, is often associated with significant physical health risks. Many second-generation antipsychotics increase the risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Community pharmacists are highly accessible and could play a role in monitoring cardiometabolic adverse drug events in people with schizophrenia.

Adverse clinical outcomes associated with drug-related hospitalizations in people with dementia.

Background: This study aimed to determine the clinical impact associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in patients with dementia.

Research Design And Methods: This case-control, propensity score-matched study utilized administrative data of people with dementia admitted to major public hospitals in Tasmania, Australia, from July 2010 to December 2019.

Results: Acute renal failure constituted the most common ADR.

Exploring Australian pharmacists' views toward reducing the risk of medicines-related harm in aged care residents.

Medicines-related harm is common in older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Pharmacists offering services in the aged care sector may play a key role in reducing medicines-related injury. This study aimed to explore Australian pharmacists' views toward reducing the risk of medicines-related harm in older residents.

Exploring Australian pharmacists' perceptions and practices towards reducing the risk of medicines-related harm in aged care residents.

Older people living in residential aged care facilities frequently experience medicines-related harm. Evidence regarding the perception and practices towards reducing these harms may facilitate the development of customised educational programs for pharmacists providing services in RACFs. To explore Australian pharmacists' opinions and practices towards reducing the risk of medicines-related harm in aged care residents.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of the Hospital and Community Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) towards Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults.

In Saudi Arabia, the older adult population is growing and is projected to increase three-fold by 2030. Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are harmful to older adults' and have a direct impact on clinical, health and economic outcomes. Pharmacists have a vital role in medication tailoring for older adults as multidisciplinary team members.

Improving the accuracy of discharge medication documentation in people with kidney disease through pharmacist-led partnered prescribing.

Background: Inaccurate medication documentation in prescriptions and discharge summaries produce poorer patient outcomes, are costly to healthcare systems and result in more readmissions to hospital. Errors in medication documentation are common in Australian hospitals.

Aim: To determine whether pharmacist-led partnered prescribing (PPP) on discharge reduced errors and improved accuracy in documentation of medications in the discharge prescription and the discharge summary of people with kidney disease compared with medical prescribing (MP).

Actual drug-related harms in residential aged care facilities: a narrative review.

Introduction: Older people in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) have a high risk of safety issues and concerns about the potential quality of care received. This narrative review investigates the types of actual drug-related harms, their prevalence, reporting of any standard definitions for these harms, and their identification methods.

Areas Covered: The authors conducted a systematic search on Ovid Embase, Ovid Medline, and PubMed from March 2001 to March 2021.

Ten-year trends in adverse drug reaction-related hospitalizations among people with dementia.

Aim: Trends in the incidence of adverse drug reaction (ADR)-related hospitalizations have been studied in the general population, but not specifically in people with dementia. This study aimed to investigate trends in the incidence of ADR-related hospitalizations among people with dementia, and identify the most commonly implicated drugs and diagnoses in these admissions.

Methods: This study utilized the administrative data of all adults admitted to the four major public hospitals of Tasmania, Australia, with a primary or secondary diagnosis of dementia from July 2010 to December 2019.

Pharmacist-led interventions to reduce adverse drug events in older people living in residential aged care facilities: A systematic review.

Aims: We aimed to investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions to reduce adverse drug events (ADEs) in older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PsycINFO from their inceptions to July 2020. We investigated experimental study designs that employed a control group, or quasi-experimental studies conducted in RACFs.

Assessing adherence to infusion-based biologic therapies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: The intravenous biologics infliximab and vedolizumab are effective long-term therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Though highly effective, suboptimal adherence may result in loss of response and adverse sequelae. The extent and outcomes of suboptimal adherence with intravenous biologics, including in IBD, requires further evaluation.

Outcomes of Medication Misadventure Among People With Cognitive Impairment or Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: To investigate mortality and hospitalization outcomes associated with medication misadventure (including medication errors [MEs], such as the use of potentially inappropriate medications [PIMs], and adverse drug events [ADEs]) among people with cognitive impairment or dementia.

Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to December 2019.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: Relevant studies using any study design were included.

Medication Regimen Complexity Index Prediction of Adverse Drug Reaction-Related Hospital Admissions.

Background: The relationship between the medication regimen complexity index (MRCI) and adverse drug reaction (ADR)-related hospital admissions has not yet specifically been investigated.

Objective: To evaluate the MRCI and compare with medication count for prediction of ADR-related hospital admissions in older patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected convenience sample of 768 unplanned medical admissions of Australians aged 65 years old and older.

Prospective identification versus administrative coding of adverse drug reaction-related hospitalizations in the elderly: A comparative analysis.

Purpose: To compare prospective identification of adverse drug reaction (ADR)-related hospital admissions in the elderly with administrative coding using the International Classification of Diseases 10 Revision Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) coding system.

Methods: We linked the records of 768 enrolled patients from an earlier study, where clinical pharmacists identified ADRs using prospective data collection, to hospital administrative data. We identified patients in the study whose admissions were coded as ADRs using ICD-10-AM codes.

Predictors of adverse drug reaction-related hospitalisation in Southwest Ethiopia: A prospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are important causes of morbidity and mortality in the healthcare system; however, there are no studies reporting on the magnitude and risk factors associated with ADR-related hospitalisation in Ethiopia.

Objectives: To characterise the reaction types and the drugs implicated in admission to Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia, and to identify risk factors associated with ADR-related hospitalisation.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2015 to August 2016 among consenting patients aged ≥18 years consecutively admitted to medical wards taking at least one medication prior to admission.

Repeat Adverse Drug Reaction-Related Hospital Admissions in Elderly Australians: A Retrospective Study at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Background: Adverse drug reactions are a major cause of hospital admissions in older individuals, with the majority potentially preventable. Despite the apparent magnitude of this problem, little is known about rates of repeat admission to hospital as a result of adverse drug reactions.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the occurrence of repeat adverse drug reaction-related hospital admissions in elderly patients within 12 months of an adverse drug reaction-related admission to a medical ward and whether a validated adverse drug reaction score could be useful in identifying patients at higher risk of a repeat adverse drug reaction-related hospitalisation.

Quality of claims and references found in Australian pharmacy journal advertisements.

Objectives: To evaluate the quality of pharmaceutical advertisement claims and supporting references in Australian pharmacy journals that target community pharmacists.

Methods: All full-page advertisements for a medicinal product, found in two Australian pharmacy journals from the year 2012 to 2015 were included. Advertisement claims and references were evaluated by claim type (unambiguous to immeasurable) and level of evidence (strong to irrelevant) in supporting references.

Vitamin D Supplementation in Tasmanian Nursing Home Residents.

Background: It is currently recommended in Australia that nursing home residents are supplemented daily with 1000 IU vitamin D as they are at an increased risk of fractures. Historically, supplementation has been low, and current supplementation prevalence is not known.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D supplementation amongst nursing home residents in Tasmania, Australia.

Adverse-Drug-Reaction-Related Hospitalisations in Developed and Developing Countries: A Review of Prevalence and Contributing Factors.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of hospital admissions and morbidity in developed countries and represent a substantial burden on healthcare delivery systems. However, there is little data available from low- and middle-income countries. This review compares the prevalence and characteristics of ADR-related hospitalisations in adults in developed and developing countries, including the mortality, severity and preventability associated with these events, commonly implicated drugs and contributing factors.

Impact of residential medication management reviews on anticholinergic burden in aged care residents.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRs) on anticholinergic burden quantified by seven anticholinergic risk scales.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Accredited pharmacists conducted RMMRs in aged-care facilities (ACFs) in Sydney, Australia.

Impact of the pharmacist medication review services on drug-related problems and potentially inappropriate prescribing of renally cleared medications in residents of aged care facilities.

Background: Drug-related problems (DRPs) are common in aged care facilities and few studies have been conducted to determine the impact of the pharmacist-conducted medication review services. Studies determining the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and data regarding inappropriate prescribing of renally cleared medications in aged care facilities in Australia are also lacking.

Objectives: To investigate the number and nature of DRPs identified and recommendations made by pharmacists in residents of aged care facilities.

A comparison of prescribing criteria when applied to older community-based patients.

Background: Studies have compared prescribing criteria for older people in general terms, reporting the findings without true side-by-side comparisons of the frequency and type of potential drug-related problems (DRPs).

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the frequency and type of DRPs identified by several prescribing criteria. Additionally, original pharmacist DRP findings were compared with DRPs identified using the prescribing criteria.