Search results for "Drug Prescriptions"

Determinants of prescription opioid use: population‐based evidence from Finland

2019

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Previous studies have shown that prescription opioid use is more common in socio-economically disadvantaged communities in the United States. This study examined the area and individual-level determinants of prescription opioid use in Finland during the period 1995-2016. DESIGN Logistic regression analysis using nation-wide data on filled opioid-related prescriptions dispensed at Finnish pharmacies and covered by National Health Insurance. Opioid consumption was linked, using personal identification codes, to population-based data maintained by Statistics Finland, which records individual background and area-level characteristics. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Working-age pop…

Opioid use and effectiveness of its prescription at discharge in an acute pain relief and palliative care unit

2013

The aim of this study was to present how opioids are used in an acute pain relief and palliative care unit (APRPCU), where many patients with difficult pain conditions are admitted from GPs, home palliative care programs, oncology departments, other hospitals or emergency units, and other regional places. From a consecutive sample of cancer patients admitted to an APRPCU for a period of 6 months, patients who had been administered opioids were included in this survey. Basic information was collected as well as opioid therapy prescribed at admission and, subsequently, during admission and at time of discharge. Patients were discharged once stabilization of pain and symptoms were obtained and…

Optimizing patient referral and center capacity in the management of chronic hepatitis C: Lessons from the Italian experience

2019

Abstract Aims In 2017 the Italian Drug Agency (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco, AIFA) revised the criteria for access to therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C as part of a three-year plan to eradicate HCV. We conducted a Delphi study to determine strategies to identify and treat patients with HCV and to develop through a shared pathway, a model to manage patient referral and optimize prescription center capacity with the overall aim of increasing access to therapy. Methods The process took place in two phases – Phase I (January 2017), before the criteria for treatment of HCV were revised and Phase II (May 2017) when AIFA developed a framework for the eradication of HCV infection in Ita…

Antibiotic prophylaxis habits in dental implant surgery among dentists in Spain. A cross-sectional survey

2018

Background The use of antibiotics to prevent dental implant failures and postoperative infections remains a controversial issue. The objectives of this study were to assess the current antibiotic prescribing patterns and antibiotic prescribing frequency of dentists in Biscay (Spain) in conjunction with routine dental implant surgery among healthy patients and to determine whether any consensus has been reached by such practitioners and last published evidence was being followed. Material and Methods Observational cross-sectional study: electronic survey. This study was reported according to the STROBE guidelines. This anonymous questionnaire contained open-ended and close-ended questions. A…

Survey of Spanish dentists on the prescription of antibiotics and antiseptics in surgery for impacted lower third molars

2015

Background: This study explored the attitude of registered dentists in Biscay towards prescribing antibiotics and/ or antiseptics to prevent potential infections after surgical extraction of completely bone-impacted third molars in otherwise healthy individuals, with no history of infection. Material and Methods: We sent letters to 931 registered dentists in Biscay, with an explanation of the study objectives, description of a case of lower third molar impaction, including a panoramic radiograph, and a questionnaire. The questionnaire asked whether they would prescribe antibiotics and/or antiseptics, in the hypothetical case of lower third molar extraction surgery presented, and if so, when…

"Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe": Prioritizing Medications on the Prescription as an Unexplored Avenue Towards Optimizing Geriatric Pharmacotherapy.

2018

Interaction risk with proton pump inhibitors in general practice: significant disagreement between different drug-related information sources.

2006

Aims To compare information on drug–drug interactions (DDIs) reported on two standard drug-related information sources (Summary of Product Characteristics and Drugdex system by Micromedex), by assessing the prevalence and predictors of potential DDI with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in general practice. Methods From the ‘Caserta-1’ Local Health-Service database, 156 general practitioners (GPs) were recruited. From more than 180 000 individuals registered on their lists, we selected patients receiving co-prescription of PPI and medications at interaction risk, according to the Italian Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) of PPI and Drugdex information, during the year 2003. Thereafter, …

Gender difference in drug use in hospitalized elderly patients.

2015

Purpose The aims of this study were to evaluate whether or not there are gender differences in drug use at hospital admission and prescription at discharge and to evaluate the effect of hospitalization on medication patterns in the elderly. Method In-patients aged > 65 years included in the REPOSI registry during a recruitment period of 3 years (2008-2010-2012) were analyzed in order to evaluate drug use at hospital admission and prescription at discharge according to gender. Results A total of 3473 patients, 52% women and 48% men, were considered. Polypharmacy (> 5 drugs) is more frequent in men both at hospital admission and discharge. At hospital discharge, the number of prescripti…

Pattern of drug use by advanced cancer patients followed at home

2001

The aim of this study was to document the drugs most commonly prescribed to control symptoms in advanced cancer patients being followed at home. We analyzed data for 128 patients admitted to a home palliative care program from January 1993 to January 1995. All patients were followed at home until death by a team consisting of doctors and nurses, and were given two or three medical examinations a week. The most frequently prescribed drugs were analgesics and drugs commonly used to prevent NSAID-induced gastric toxicity. Slow-release morphine was the analgesic used most often. Most patients received more than four drugs. Younger people received morphine more often than did older patients. Co…

Colorectal cancer: pharmacogenetics support for the correct drug prescription

2019

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) in clinical practice is a tool that the clinician can use to guide, in a personalized way, the most suitable treatment that will be administered to the patient. The objective of this review is to summarize in a practical and accessible rational way, the advances that currently exist for the application of PGx in colorectal cancer chemotherapy management through the study of the patients’ germline polymorphisms. To define the polymorphisms that can be applied, we rely on three fundamental cornerstones: the recommendations of drug regulatory agencies; the implementation guidelines prepared by expert consortia in PGx and information from clinical annotations (the drug/p…