| 1. |
- Aljeaidi, Muhamad, et al.
(författare)
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Dry Eyes, Ocular Lubricants, and Use of Systemic Medications Known or Suspected to Cause Dry Eyes in Residents of Aged Care Services
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 17:15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ocular issues are common, burdensome, and under-researched among residents of aged care services. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of dry eyes or use of ocular lubricants among residents, and the possible association with systemic medications known or suspected to cause dry eyes. A cross-sectional study of 383 residents of six aged care services in South Australia was conducted. Data were extracted from participants' medical histories, medication charts, and validated assessments. The main exposure was systemic medications known to cause, contribute to, or aggravate dry eyes. The primary outcome was documented dry eyes or regular administration of ocular lubricants. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between systemic medications and dry eyes/use of ocular lubricants. Dry eyes were documented for 53 (13.8%) residents and 98 (25.6%) residents were administered ocular lubricants. Overall, 116 (30.3%) residents had documented dry eyes/used ocular lubricants. Of these, half (n= 58) were taking a medication known to cause, contribute to, or aggravate dry eyes. Taking one or more medications listed as known to cause dry eyes was associated with having dry eyes/use of ocular lubricants (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.15-2.94). In sub-analyses, no individual medication was associated with dry eyes/use of ocular lubricants. Dry eyes and use of ocular lubricants are common in residential aged care. Our hypothesis generating findings suggest the need for further research into the clinical significance of systemic medications as a possible cause of dry eyes.
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| 2. |
- Chen, Lynna, et al.
(författare)
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The association between benzodiazepine use and sleep quality in residential aged care facilities : a cross-sectional study
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2318. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) for their sedative and anxiolytic effects. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between benzodiazepine use and sleep quality in residents of RACFs. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 383 participants was conducted in six Australian RACFs. Night-time sleep quality, day-time drowsiness and day-time napping behavior were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compute adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between benzodiazepine use and sleep quality. Covariates included pain, dementia severity, depression, insomnia and other sedative use. Results: Of the 383 residents (mean age 87.5 years, 77.5% female), 96(25.1%) used a benzodiazepine on a regular basis. Residents who used long-acting benzodiazepines on a regular basis had higher night-time sleep quality than non-users (AOR = 4.00, 95%CI 1.06 - 15.15). Residents who used short-acting benzodiazepines on a PRN only basis had longer daytime napping times than non-users (AOR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.01 - 3.08). No benzodiazepine category was associated with day-time drowsiness. Conclusions: The association between benzodiazepine use and sleep quality is dependent on the half-life and prescribing pattern of the benzodiazepine. Short-acting PRN benzodiazepines were associated with lower night time sleep quality and longer day-time napping compared to long-acting regular benzodiazepines. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these findings reflect channeling of short-acting agents to residents at higher risk of sleep disorders.
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| 3. |
- Kerry, Miriam, et al.
(författare)
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Multiple antihypertensive use and risk of mortality in residents of aged care services : a prospective cohort study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1594-0667 .- 1720-8319. ; 32:8, s. 1541-1549
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims The objective of this study is to investigate the association between multiple antihypertensive use and mortality in residents with diagnosed hypertension, and whether dementia and frailty modify this association.Methods This is a two-year prospective cohort study of 239 residents with diagnosed hypertension receiving antihypertensive therapy across six residential aged care services in South Australia. Data were obtained from electronic medical records, medication charts and validated assessments. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and the secondary outcome was cardiovascular-related hospitalizations. Inverse probability weighted Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause mortality. Covariates included age, sex, dementia severity, frailty status, Charlson's comorbidity index and cardiovascular comorbidities.Results The study sample (mean age of 88.1 +/- 6.3 years; 79% female) included 70 (29.3%) residents using one antihypertensive and 169 (70.7%) residents using multiple antihypertensives. The crude incidence rates for death were higher in residents using multiple antihypertensives compared with residents using monotherapy (251 and 173/1000 person-years, respectively). After weighting, residents who used multiple antihypertensives had a greater risk of mortality compared with monotherapy (HR 1.40, 95%CI 1.03-1.92). After stratifying by dementia diagnosis and frailty status, the risk only remained significant in residents with diagnosed dementia (HR 1.91, 95%CI 1.20-3.04) and who were most frail (HR 2.52, 95%CI 1.13-5.64). Rate of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations did not differ among residents using multiple compared to monotherapy (rate ratio 0.73, 95%CI 0.32-1.67).Conclusions Multiple antihypertensive use is associated with an increased risk of mortality in residents with diagnosed hypertension, particularly in residents with dementia and among those who are most frail.
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| 4. |
- Lalic, Samanta, et al.
(författare)
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Polypharmacy and Medication Regimen Complexity as Risk Factors for Hospitalization Among Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities : A Prospective Cohort Study
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. - : Elsevier BV. - 1525-8610 .- 1538-9375. ; 17:11, s. 1067.e1-1067.e6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To investigate the association between polypharmacy and medication regimen complexity with time to first hospitalization, number of hospitalizations, and number of hospital days over a 12-month period. Design: A 12-month prospective cohort study. Participants and Setting: A total of 383 residents of 6 Australian long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Measurements: The primary exposures were polypharmacy (>= 9 regular medications) and the 65-item Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between polypharmacy and MRCI with time to first hospitalization. Poisson regression was used to compute incident rate ratios (IRR) and 95% CIs for the association between polypharmacy and MRCI with number of hospitalizations and number of hospital days. Models were adjusted for age, sex, length of stay in LTCF, comorbidities, activities of daily living, and dementia severity. Results: There were 0.56 (95% CI 0.49-0.65) hospitalizations per person-year and 4.52 (95% CI 4.31-4.76) hospital days per person-year. In adjusted analyses, polypharmacy was associated with time to first hospitalization (HR 1.84; 95% CI 1.21-2.79), number of hospitalizations (IRR 1.51; 95% CI 1.09-2.10), and hospital days per person-year (IRR 1.39; 95% CI 1.24-1.56). Similarly, in adjusted analyses a 10-unit increase in MRCI was associated with time to first hospitalization (HR 1.17; 95% CI 1.06-1.29), number of hospitalizations (IRR 1.15; 95% CI 1.06-1.24), and hospital days per person-year (IRR 1.19; 95% CI 1.16-1.23). Conclusions: Polypharmacy and medication regimen complexity are associated with hospitalizations from LTCFs. This highlights the importance of regular medication review for residents of LTCFs and the need for further research into the risk-to-benefit ratio of prescribing in this setting.
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| 5. |
- Nelson, Laura, et al.
(författare)
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FKBPL: a marker of good prognosis in breast cancer.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 6:14, s. 12209-12223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- FK506-binding protein-like (FKBPL) has established roles as an anti-tumor protein, with a therapeutic peptide based on this protein, ALM201, shortly entering phase I/II clinical trials. Here, we evaluated FKBPL's prognostic ability in primary breast cancer tissue, represented on tissue microarrays (TMA) from 3277 women recruited into five independent retrospective studies, using immunohistochemistry (IHC). In a meta-analysis, FKBPL levels were a significant predictor of BCSS; low FKBPL levels indicated poorer breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.49, p < 0.001). The prognostic impact of FKBPL remained significant after adjusting for other known prognostic factors (HR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.07-1.45, p = 0.004). For the sub-groups of 2365 estrogen receptor (ER) positive patients and 1649 tamoxifen treated patients, FKBPL was significantly associated with BCSS (HR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.13-1.58, p < 0.001, and HR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.04-1.49, p = 0.02, respectively). A univariate analysis revealed that FKBPL was also a significant predictor of relapse free interval (RFI) within the ER positive patient group, but it was only borderline significant within the smaller tamoxifen treated patient group (HR = 1.32 95% CI 1.05-1.65, p = 0.02 and HR = 1.23 95% CI 0.99-1.54, p = 0.06, respectively). The data suggests a role for FKBPL as a prognostic factor for BCSS, with the potential to be routinely evaluated within the clinic.
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| 6. |
- Stasinopoulos, Jacquelina, et al.
(författare)
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Frequency of and factors related to pro re nata (PRN) medication use in aged care services
- 2018
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Ingår i: Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1551-7411 .- 1934-8150. ; 14:10, s. 964-967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Little is known about the contribution of 'pro re nata' (PRN) medications to overall medication burden in residential aged care services (RACS). Objectives: To determine the frequency of, and factors associated with PRN medication administration in RACS. Measurements: Details of all medications charted for regular or PRN use were extracted from medication charts for 383 residents of 6 Australian RACS. Records of medications administered over a 7 day period were also extracted. Factors associated with PRN medication administration among residents charted >= 1 PRN were determined using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of the 360 (94%) residents charted >= 1 PRN medication, 99 (28%) were administered PRN medication at least once. The most prevalent PRN medications were analgesics and laxatives. Residents with greater dependence with activities of daily living (ADL) (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) per additional point on Katz ADL scale: 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.89; p < 0.001) and a greater number of regular medications (aOR per additional medication: 1.06; 95% CI 1.00-1.13; p = 0.042) were more likely to be administered PRN medication. Conclusions: Although most residents are charted PRN medications, rates of administration are relatively low, suggesting the contribution of PRNs to medication burden in RACS may be lower than previously thought.
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| 7. |
- Wang, Kate N., et al.
(författare)
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Use of Falls Risk Increasing Drugs in Residents at High and Low Falls Risk in Aged Care Services
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Gerontology. - : SAGE Publications. - 0733-4648 .- 1552-4523. ; 40:1, s. 77-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Falls are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality in aged care services and falls risk increasing drugs (FRIDs) are often overlooked as a contributor to falls. This study aims to investigate the association between the risk of falling and use of FRIDs from aged care services. Inverse-probability-weighted multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between falls risk and regular FRIDs in 383 residents from six Australian aged care services. Overall, residents at high and low falls risk had similar prevalence of FRIDs. Prevalence of antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics was low. Residents at high falls risk had higher adjusted odds of using >= 2 psychotropic medications (odds ratio [OR] = 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.17-2.61) and >= 2 medications that cause/worsen orthostatic hypotension (OR = 3.59, 95% CI = 2.27-5.69). High prevalence of FRIDs was mainly attributable to medications for which residents had clinical indications. Clinicians appeared to have largely avoided FRIDs that explicit criteria deem potentially inappropriate for high falls risk.
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