1.
Gnjidic, Danijela, et al.
(författare)
Clinical implications from drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in older people
2013
Ingår i: Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology. - : Wiley. - 0305-1870 .- 1440-1681. ; 40:5, s. 320-325
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
This clinical review summarizes the evidence in relation to clinical outcomes from drugdrug and drugdisease interactions in older people. Exposure to drugdrug interactions is associated with increased risk of hospitalization-related outcomes in older people. Drugdisease interactions have been linked with adverse drug interactions and adverse drug events in studies of older people. Although the prevalence of drugdrug and drugdisease interactions is common in older people, there are very limited empirical data on important clinical outcomes from drugdrug and drugdisease interactions. Clinical implications of interactions between drugs and geriatric syndromes such as frailty, falls, cognitive impairment, immobility and urinary incontinence should also be considered in older people.
2.
Johnell, Kristina
(författare)
Inappropriate Drug Use in People with Cognitive Impairment and Dementia : A Systematic Review
2015
Ingår i: Current clinical pharmacology. - : Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.. - 1574-8847 .- 2212-3938. ; 10:3, s. 178-184
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat) abstract
The aim of this systematic review was to identify, assess and summarize studies about potentially inappropriate drug use (IDU) in cognitive impairment and dementia and to present findings about whether cognitive impairment and dementia are associated with IDU. The search was made in Medline/PubMed using free terms in the title or abstract. The inclusion criteria were: English language, published until 1 March 2014, original quantitative study and assessment of overall IDU with a consensus based summarized measure. Exclusion criteria were: focus on specific patient group (other than cognitive impairment or dementia), focus on specific drug class and failure to present a prevalence measure of IDU or an effect estimate (i.e. odds ratio). Of the initial 182 studies found in Medline, 22 articles fulfilled the criteria. Most studies used the Beers criteria for assessment of IDU. Prevalence of IDU among individuals with cognitive impairment or dementia ranged from 10.2% to 56.4% and was higher in nursing home settings than in community-dwelling samples. Most studies reported a lower likelihood of IDU in case of cognitive impairment or dementia. To conclude, IDU is highly prevalent among persons with cognitive impairment and dementia, although these conditions seem to be associated with a lower probability of IDU. This might reflect an awareness among clinicians of cautious prescribing to this vulnerable group of patients. More studies on large cohorts of persons with cognitive impairment and dementia are needed to draw conclusions about optimal drug prescribing to this frail group of older persons.
3.
Bjerkeli, Pernilla J., et al.
(författare)
Overuse of methylphenidate : an analysis of Swedish pharmacy dispensing data
2018
Ingår i: Clinical Epidemiology. - : Dove Press. - 1179-1349. ; 10, s. 1657-1665
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Purpose: To identify overuse of methylphenidate and to investigate patterns of overuse in relation to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Patients and methods: Swedish national, pharmacy dispensing data were analyzed for all 56,922 individuals aged 6-79 years, who filled a methylphenidate prescription between 2010 and 2011. Overuse was defined as having above 150% days covered by the dispensed amount during 365 days from the first prescription fill, assuming use at the maximum recommended daily dose. Results: In total, 4,304 individuals (7.6% of the methylphenidate users) were categorized as overusers. The risk of overuse increased with age (OR for 46-65 years vs 6-12 years 17.5, 95% CI 14.3-21.3), and was higher in men (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.5) and individuals with low income (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0-1.2), as well as in individuals with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.6), health care visits (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.4), previous ADHD medication use (OR 2.6, 95% CI 2.4-2.8), and previous diagnosis of mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (OR 2.1 95% CI 2.0-2.3). Conclusion: Among individuals using methylphenidate in Sweden, 7.6% receive amounts that are larger than what they should have a medical need for, assuming that they were using the maximum recommended daily dose 365 days per year. Notably, the prevalence of overuse was associated with previous diagnosis of alcohol and drug misuse. The prevalence was also positively associated with higher age and previous use of ADHD medication. These findings may point toward a link between exposure time and overuse. However, future studies with long-term data are needed to investigate this.
4.
Bennett, Alexander, et al.
(författare)
Prevalence and Impact of Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs, Polypharmacy, and Drug-Drug Interactions in Robust Versus Frail Hospitalised Falls Patients : A Prospective Cohort Study
2014
Ingår i: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 31:3, s. 225-232
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background Several measures of medication exposure are associated with adverse outcomes in older people. Exposure to and the clinical outcomes of these measures in robust versus frail older inpatients are not known. Objective In older robust and frail patients admitted to hospital after a fall, we investigated the prevalence and clinical impact of fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs), total number of medications, and drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Methods Patients >= 60 years of age admitted with a fall to a tertiary referral teaching hospital in Sydney were recruited and frailty was assessed. Data were collected at admission, discharge, and 2 months after admission. Results A total of 204 patients were recruited (mean age 80.5 +/- 8.3 years), with 101 robust and 103 frail. On admission, compared with the robust, frail participants had significantly higher mean +/- SD number of FRIDs (frail 3.4 +/- 2.2 vs. robust 1.6 +/- 1.5, P < 0.0001), total number of medications (9.8 +/- 4.3 vs. 4.4 +/- 3.3, P < 0.0001), and DDI exposure (35 vs. 5 %, P = 0.001). Number of FRIDs on discharge was significantly associated with recurrent falls [odds ratio (OR) 1.7 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.3-2.1)], which were most likely to occur with 1.5 FRIDs in the frail and 2.5 FRIDs in the robust. Number of medications on discharge was also associated with recurrent falls [OR 1.2 (1.0-1.3)], but DDIs were not. Conclusion Exposure to FRIDs and other measures of high-risk medication exposures is common in older people admitted with falls, especially the frail. Number of FRIDs and to a lesser extent total number of medicines at discharge were associated with recurrent falls.
5.
Fereshtehnejad, Seyed-Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
Anti-Dementia Drugs and Co-Medication Among Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Investigating Real-World Drug Use in Clinical Practice Using the Swedish Dementia Quality Registry (SveDem)
2014
Ingår i: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 31:3, s. 215-224
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background There is a substantial risk of drug-interactions, adverse events, and inappropriate drug use (IDU) among frail Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients; however, there are few studies about co-medication and IDU in clinical settings. Objectives To investigate anti-dementia drugs, associated characteristics of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and NMDA antagonists, co-medication, and IDU in a large population of outpatients with mild AD. Methods In this cross-sectional analysis of medication characteristics, we analyzed data from the Swedish Dementia Quality Registry (SveDem) on 5,907 newly diagnosed AD patients who were registered in memory clinics. SveDem is a national quality registry in Sweden, which was established in 2007 to evaluate and improve dementia healthcare. Comparisons were performed concerning co-medications, use of >= 3 psychotropic drugs (IDU) and polypharmacy (>= 5 drugs) based on anti-dementia treatment (ChEIs or NMDA antagonists). Information on baseline characteristics such as age, sex, living conditions, cognitive evaluation based on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, and diagnostic work-up was also evaluated. Results The majority of the AD patients were in the mild stage of the disease. Overall, 4,342 (75.4 %) patients received any ChEI, 438 (7.6 %) used an NMDA antagonist and 74 (1.3 %) patients were treated with both. However, 907 (15.7 %) patients were not treated with any anti-dementia drug. While polypharmacy was seen in 33.5 % of patients, only 2.6 % concurrently used >= 3 psychotropic medications. Patients on ChEIs were significantly younger, had a higher MMSE score and were treated with a smaller number of medications (a proxy for overall co-morbidity). Co-medication with antipsychotics [3.3 vs. 7.6 %; adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.55 (95 % CI 0.38-0.79)] and anxiolytics [5.8 vs. 10.9 %; adjusted OR 0.62 (95 % CI 0.46-0.84)] was significantly lower in the ChEI+ group than in those with no anti-dementia treatment. Conclusion Patients taking ChEIs were treated with less antipsychotics and anxiolytics than those not taking ChEIs. More research is warranted to elucidate whether use of ChEIs in clinical practice can reduce the need for psychotropic drugs in AD patients.
6.
Haasum, Ylva, et al.
(författare)
Different patterns in use of antibiotics for lower urinary tract infection in institutionalized and home-dwelling elderly : a register-based study
2012
Ingår i: European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0031-6970 .- 1432-1041. ; 69:3, s. 665-671
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
PurposeWe compared the quality and pattern of use of antibiotics to treat urinary tract infection (UTI) between institutionalized and home-dwelling elderly.MethodsWe analyzed the quality of use of UTI antibiotics in Swedish people aged ≥65 years at 30 September 2008 (1,260,843 home-dwelling and 86,721 institutionalized elderly). Data regarding drug use, age and sex were retrieved from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and information about type of housing from the Social Services Register. In women, we assessed: (1) the proportion who use quinolones (should be as low as possible); (2) the proportion treated with the recommended drugs (pivmecillinam, nitrofurantoin, or trimethoprim) (proportions should be about 40 %, 40 % and 15-20 %, respectively); In men, we assessed: (1) the proportion who used quinolones or trimethoprim (should be as high as possible).ResultsThe 1-day point prevalence for antibiotic use for UTI was 1.6 % among institutionalized and 0.9 % among home-dwelling elderly. Of these, about 15 % of institutionalized and 19 % of home-dwelling women used quinolones. The proportion of women treated with the recommended drugs pivmecillinam, nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim was 29 %, 27 % and 45 % in institutions and 40 %, 28 % and 34 % for home-dwellers. In men treated with antibiotics for UTI, quinolones or trimethoprim were used by about 76 % in institutions and 85 % in home-dwellers.ConclusionsOur results indicate that recommendations for UTI treatment with antibiotics are not adequately followed. The high use of trimethoprim amongst institutionalized women and the low use of quinolones or trimethoprim among institutionalized men need further investigation.
7.
Morin, Lucas, et al.
(författare)
Potentially inappropriate drug use in older people : a nationwide comparison of different explicit criteria for population-based estimates
2015
Ingår i: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. - : Wiley. - 0306-5251 .- 1365-2125. ; 80:2, s. 315-324
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Aims: The aim was to investigate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication use among older people in Sweden according to five different published sets of explicit criteria from Europe and the US.Methods: This was a nationwide cross-sectional, register-based study across the whole of Sweden in 2008. All individuals aged 65 years and older were included (n = 1 346 709, both community-dwelling and institutionalized persons). We applied all drug-specific criteria included in the 2012 Beers Criteria, the Laroche's list, the PRISCUS list, the NORGEP criteria and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare criteria. The main outcome was the potentially inappropriate drug use according to each set of criteria, separately and combined. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify individual factors associated with the use of potentially inappropriate drugs.Results: The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication use varied between the explicit criteria from 16% (NORGEP criteria) to 24% (2012 Beers criteria). Overall, 38% of the older people were exposed to potentially inappropriate drug use by at least one of the five sets of criteria. While controlling for other possible covariates, female gender, institutionalization and polypharmacy were systematically associated with inappropriate drug use, regardless of the set of explicit criteria we considered.Conclusion: Although explicit criteria for inappropriate drug use among older people have been reported to be quite different in their content, they provide similar measures of the prevalence of potentially inappropriate drug use at the population level.
8.
Sköldunger, Anders, et al.
(författare)
Impact of Inappropriate Drug Use on Hospitalizations, Mortality, and Costs in Older Persons and Persons with Dementia : Findings from the SNAC Study
2015
Ingår i: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 32:8, s. 671-678
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background: Inappropriate drug use (IDU) is an important risk factor for adverse outcomes in older persons. We aimed to investigate IDU and the risk of hospitalizations and mortality in older persons and in persons with dementia and to estimate the costs of IDU-related hospitalizations.Methods: We analyzed 4108 individuals aged a parts per thousand yen60 years from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC) data from Kungsholmen and Nordanstig (2001-2004). IDU was assessed by indicators developed by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. Hospitalizations and mortality data were collected from Swedish registers. Regression models were used to investigate associations between IDU, hospitalizations, and mortality in the whole population and in the subpopulation of persons with dementia (n = 319), after adjustment for sociodemographics, physical functioning, and co-morbidity. Costs for hospitalizations were derived from the Nord-Diagnose Related Group cost database. Results IDU was associated with a higher risk of hospitalization [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.46; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.18-1.81] and mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.15; 95 % CI 1.01-1.31] within 1 year in the whole study population and with hospitalization (adjusted OR = 1.88; 95 % CI 1.03-3.43) in the subpopulation of persons with dementia, after adjustment for confounding factors. There was also a tendency for higher costs for hospitalizations with IDU than without IDU, although this was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that IDU is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization in older persons and in persons with dementia. IDU is also associated with mortality among older persons. These findings highlight the need for cautious prescribing of long-acting benzodiazepines, anticholinergic drugs, concurrent use of three or more psychotropic drugs and drug combinations that may lead to serious drug-drug interactions to older patients. Further studies are needed to investigate the association between IDU and costs for hospitalizations.
9.
Tannenbaum, Cara, et al.
(författare)
Managing Therapeutic Competition in Patients with Heart Failure, Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Incontinence
2014
Ingår i: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 31:2, s. 93-101
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Up to 50 % of heart failure patients suffer from lower urinary tract symptoms. Urinary incontinence has been associated with worse functional status in patients with heart failure, occurring three times more frequently in patients with New York Heart Association Class III and IV symptoms compared with those with milder disease. The association between heart failure and urinary symptoms may be directly attributable to worsening heart failure pathophysiology; however, medications used to treat heart failure may also indirectly provoke or exacerbate urinary symptoms. This type of drug-disease interaction, in which the treatment for heart failure precipitates incontinence, and removal of medications to relieve incontinence worsens heart failure, can be termed therapeutic competition. The mechanisms by which heart failure medication such as diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and beta-blockers aggravate lower urinary tract symptoms are discussed. Initiation of a prescribing cascade, whereby antimuscarinic agents or beta 3-agonists are added to treat symptoms of urinary urgency and incontinence, is best avoided. Recommendations and practical tips are provided that outline more judicious management of heart failure patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. Compelling strategies to improve urinary outcomes include titrating diuretics, switching ACE inhibitors, treating lower urinary tract infections, appropriate fluid management, daily weighing, and uptake of pelvic floor muscle exercises.
10.
Wastesson, Jonas W., et al.
(författare)
An update on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy in older adults : a narrative review
2018
Ingår i: Expert Opinion on Drug Safety. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1474-0338 .- 1744-764X. ; 17:12, s. 1185-1196
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat) abstract
Introduction: Polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications by one individual, is increasingly common among older adults. Caring for the growing number of older people with complex drug regimens and multimorbidity presents an important challenge in the coming years. Areas covered: This article reviews the international trends in the prevalence of polypharmacy, summarizes the results from previous reviews on polypharmacy and negative health outcomes, and updates a previous review on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy by focusing on studies published after 2013. This narrative review, which is based on a literature search in MEDLINE and EMBASE from January 1990 to June 2018, was undertaken to identify relevant articles. Search terms included variations of polypharmacy and multiple medications. Expert opinion: The prevalence of polypharmacy is increasing worldwide. More than half of the older population is exposed to polypharmacy in some settings. Polypharmacy is associated with a broad range of clinical consequences. However, methods to assess the dangers of polypharmacy should be refined. In our opinion, the issue of 'confounding by multimorbidity' has been underestimated and should be better accounted for in future studies. Moreover, researchers should develop more clinically relevant definitions of polypharmacy, including measures of inappropriate or problematic polypharmacy.
