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- Sjöberg, Christina, 1963, et al.
(author)
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Association between multi-dose drug dispensing and quality of drug treatment--a register-based study.
- 2011
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In: PloS one. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 6:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the elderly in Scandinavia, multi-dose drug dispensing (MDD) is a common alternative to ordinary prescriptions (OP). MDD patients receive their drugs in unit bags, one for each dose occasion. The prescribing procedure differs between MDD and OP. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between MDD and quality of drug treatment (QDT).
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bennett, Alexander, et al.
(author)
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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
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In: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 31:3, s. 225-232
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 4. |
- Cermakova, Pavla, et al.
(author)
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Cardiovascular medication burden in dementia disorders : a nationwide study of 19,743 dementia patients in the Swedish Dementia Registry
- 2014
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In: Alzheimer's research & therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 6:3, s. 34-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Administration of several cardiovascular drugs has an effect on dementia. We aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the use of cardiovascular medication between different dementia disorders. Methods: We obtained information about dementia patients from the Swedish Dementia Registry. Patients were diagnosed with one of these dementia disorders: Alzheimer's disease (n = 8,139), mixed dementia (n = 5,203), vascular dementia (n = 4,982), Lewy body dementia (n = 605), frontotemporal dementia (n = 409) and Parkinson's disease dementia (n = 405). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between use of cardiovascular medication and dementia disorders, after adjustment for age, gender, living alone, cognitive status and total number of drugs (a proxy for overall co-morbidity). Results: Seventy percent of all the dementia patients used cardiovascular medication. Use of cardiovascular drugs is common in patients with vascular and mixed dementia. Male gender, higher age, slightly better cognitive status and living with another person was associated with use of cardiovascular medication. Conclusions: Cardiovascular medication is used extensively across dementia disorders and particularly in vascular and mixed dementia. Future research should investigate the tolerability and effectiveness of these drugs in the different dementia disorders.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Fereshtehnejad, Seyed-Mohammad, et al.
(author)
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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
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In: Drugs & Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1170-229X .- 1179-1969. ; 31:3, s. 215-224
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 7. |
- Gnjidic, Danijela, et al.
(author)
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Clinical implications from drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in older people
- 2013
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In: Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology. - : Wiley. - 0305-1870 .- 1440-1681. ; 40:5, s. 320-325
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Haasum, Ylva, et al.
(author)
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Different patterns in use of antibiotics for lower urinary tract infection in institutionalized and home-dwelling elderly : a register-based study
- 2012
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In: European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0031-6970 .- 1432-1041. ; 69:3, s. 665-671
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 10. |
- Haasum, Ylva, et al.
(author)
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Institutionalization as a Risk Factor for Inappropriate Drug Use in the Elderly : A Swedish Nationwide Register-Based Study
- 2012
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In: The Annals of Pharmacotherapy. - 1060-0280 .- 1542-6270. ; 46:3, s. 339-346
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated institutionalization as a potential risk factor for potentially inappropriate drug use (PIDU). Sweden now has unique possibilities for comparisons of drug use in large populations of institutionalized and home-dwelling elderly through linkage of the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (SPDR) with the Swedish Social Services Register. OBJECTIVE: To compare PIDU in institutionalized versus home-dwelling elderly persons in Sweden. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 1,260,843 home-dwelling and 86,721 institutionalized elderly individuals. We analyzed data on age, sex, and dispensed drugs for individuals aged 65 years or older registered in the SPDR from July to September 2008. Data on type of housing were retrieved from the Social Services Register. The main outcome measures of PIDU were use of anticholinergic drugs, long-acting benzodiazepines, concurrent use of 3 or more psychotropics, and potentially serious drug-drug interactions (DDIs). RESULTS: Thirty percent of the institutionalized and 12% of the home-dwelling elderly were exposed to PIDU. Living in an institution was strongly associated with overall PIDU (OR 2.36; 95% Cl 2.29 to 2.44), use of anticholinergic drugs (OR 2.58; 95% Cl 2.48 to 2.68), long-acting benzodiazepines (OR 1.50; 95% Cl 1.41 to 1.60), and concurrent use of 3 or more psychotropics (OR 7.26; 95% Cl 6.96 to 7.59), after controlling for age, sex, and number of drugs (used as proxy for comorbidity). However, institutionalization was associated with a lower probability of potentially serious DDIs (OR 0.60; 95% Cl 0.55 to 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that institutionalization is a potential risk factor for PIDU. This implies that more cautious prescribing is warranted in institutions, where the frailest and most vulnerable elderly individuals reside. Research is needed to identify underlying risk factors for PIDU within these settings.
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