Class of 2012 Abstract / Specific Aims: To evaluate the effect on the incidence and nature of pharmacists’ drug utilization review (DUR) interventions of including patient diagnosis on electronic prescription (e-prescription) orders. Methods: This prospective pre-post evaluation was conducted in the outpatient pharmacy of a federally funded community health center over two consecutive four-week periods. During the pre-phase, a clinical pharmacist in the clinic’s onsite pharmacy prospectively reviewed the e-prescriptions received from the clinic’s primary care providers using a standard prospective DUR process and recorded all therapy-related interventions. In the post-phase, providers added a diagnosis on each e-prescription. Interventions were documented using a standard intervention form that has been used in previous research. Chi square and t-tests were used to assess the nominal and interval data, respectively (α=0.05). The Institutional Review Boards of the two collaborating universities approved the study. Main Results: Pharmacist intervention rates on problematic e-prescription orders significantly decreased (4% pre vs. 1% post, p<0.001). Drug-drug interactions (17.5% pre vs. 20% post) and missing information (15% pre vs. 20% post) were the most frequently cited problems that prompted the need for the pharmacist’s intervention. The medication classes most frequently involved in interventions were antibiotics (53% pre vs. 50% post) and central nervous system agents (17% pre vs. 10% post). After receiving clarification, the pharmacist most often dispensed the prescription (33.3% pre vs. 38.4% post) and educated the patient regarding their treatments (18.8% pre vs. 7.7% post). Conclusions: In this small pilot project, including the patient’s diagnosis on e-prescription orders significantly reduced the incidence of pharmacists’ DUR-related interventions. If duplicated in larger studies, our results suggest that providing pharmacists with additional targeted clinical information could reduce confusion and uncertainty thereby decreasing the number of unnecessary pharmacist contacts with prescribers and improving workflow and efficiency for both.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: Drugs are essential components of the health system and their rational use is vital to delivering quality and efficient healthcare services. However, inappropriate prescribing is a common rational drug use problem globally, particularly in developing countries including Nigeria. Despite measures to address this problem, inappropriate drug use continues to be a major public health problem in Nigeria. Aim: This study assessed rational drug use (RDU), with a focus on rational prescribing and factors affecting it, among primary healthcare providers working in primary healthcare facilities of a LGA in Northwestern Nigeria. Methods: The study was a cross sectional descriptive study and it included retrospective review of patient encounters and interviews with prescribing healthcare providers in sampled health facilities. Stratified random sampling method was used to select 20 public primary healthcare facilities and 30 patient encounters were drawn by systematic random sampling from each facility. One hundred and sixty three prescribing healthcare providers in the health facilities were also included in the study. Adapted WHO's drug use study tools and a structured self-administered questionnaire were used to collect data. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 17) software and presented as contingency table with chi square test used to test for relationship between variables with statistical significance taken at p < 0.05. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of the Western Cape Research Ethics Committee and Kaduna State Ministry of Health, and permission from local stakeholders. Confidentiality of individual patients, healthcare providers and health facilities data was maintained. Results: The prescribing staff at the selected facilities were predominantly Nurses/Midwives and community health assistants with SCHEWs constituting the majority (60.8%). More than half (54.4%) of providers did not know about the concept of RDU. Similarly, the computed knowledge score of RDU revealed that the majority (74.4%) had poor knowledge of the concept. Knowledge was significantly associated with duration of service, providers' previous training in rational drug use and professional status (p<0.05), with the CHOs having better knowledge of RDU compared with other professional cadres. High antibiotic use (68.3% in retrospective review and 82.9% in survey) and injection use (9.5% in retrospective review and 12% in survey) were found in the study with significant proportions of providers admitting that all cases of URTI should receive antibiotics (72.3% ) and that patients could be prescribed injections if they requested for it (35.3%). The Standing Order was the main source of information for the majority (50.6%) of providers and it served as the major influence affecting prescribing practices. Conclusion: This study revealed a poor understanding and knowledge of RDU among healthcare providers. High antibiotic and injection use also reflected providers' poor attitude to rational prescribing of these commodities. To improve prescribing practices at the PHC level, adequate staff skill mix, including physicians should be established. Since RDU knowledge was associated with prior training, curriculum development towards RDU and opportunities for in-service training should be provided to build prescribers capacity, in addition to instituting a system of rational drug use monitoring. Further research into rational drug use among different cadres of PHC healthcare providers is also recommended.

Drug default is the failure of a patient to comply fully with medication regimens and is major unsolved problem confronting health care providers oday. Drug default is also known as medication noncompliance. Very few studies have been reported comparing the effects of counseling and the unit dose packaging upon compliance. Further, no studies have been reported on the effects of counseling and unit dose packaging upon compliance in ambulatory psychiatric patients. The present investigation was undertaken to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of the Medication Reminder Record, a type of patient calender sheet, with counseling as a means of improving compliance with medication regimens in an ambulatory psychiatric patient population; and (ii) contrast the effects of the Daily Medication Package with counseling and Medication Reminder Records for ambulatory psychiatric patients.

Analysis of anticoagulant utilization in the Czech republic in the period from 2007 to 2016 Author: Zuzana Hochelová1 Supervisor: PharmDr. Eva Zimčíková, Ph.D.1 Consultant: PharmDr. Kateřina Malá, Ph.D.1 1 Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Czech Republic Introduction: Anticoagulants are drugs that reduce blood clotting and prevent the formation of blood clots. In the Czech Republic - antagonists of vitamin K-warfarin, direct oral inhibitors of factor Xa-rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban, direct oral inhibitors trombin - dabigatran, parenteral anticoagulants - heparin, low-molecular heparin, fondaparinux, oral and parenteral hirudin are used. Objective: The objective of this diploma thesis was to assess the consumption of oral and parenteral anticoagulants in the Czech Republic from 01. 01. 2007 to 31. 12. 2016, based on the data from the State Institute of Drug Control (SIDC). Methods: ATC/DDD methodology was applied. The research consisted of a retrospective analysis of the SIDC database. All oral and parental anticoagulants approved in the CR were included in the study. Drug utilization was calculated as number of defined daily doses per thousands of inhabitants per day (DID). The data on the number of residents was acquired from...

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No description available.

The purpose of this research was to study university students' perceptions of how their parents reared them in relationship to the students' usage of drugs. The Chi-square Test was used to reflect drug user-non-user differences. Four hypotheses were examined. They were concerned with whether availability of parental models for behavior, parental behavior and actions, child-rearing practices, and evaluations and attitudes toward their progeny will have a definite effect upon the subjects' usage of drugs. The first two, as mentioned above, had no significant effect upon the subjects' usage of drugs, the second two showed significant effects. The results also indicated that drug users have a more negative self concept than do non-users and LSD and "speed" users have a more negative outlook on life than do marijuana users. Also revealed was that the drug users have a large majority of their friends using drugs and approving of their usage while the majority of non-users have fewer friends using drugs and these friends do not approve of drug usage. / M. S.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between having military discipline, the military rank, the branch of service, the number of years served, reserve status and if these factors would affect a veterans' compliancy in taking daily medication.

<p>Zbog visoke stope morbiditeta i mortaliteta od kardiovaskularnih bolesti, udeo lekova za terapiju kardiovaskularnih bolesti značajno učestvuje u ukupno utro&scaron;enoj količini lekova u svetu. Evidentan je porast potro&scaron;nje lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti. Radi postizanja &scaron;to je moguće vi&scaron;eg stepena racionalizacije terapije u većini zemalja stručna tela donose farmakoterapijske smernice kako bi se mogućnost pogre&scaron;nog lečenja svela na najmanju moguću meru. Na ovaj način lekaru-praktičaru pružena je sigurnost pravilnog izbora i najadekvatnijeg postupka u datim okolnostima. Ciljevi ovog istraživanja bili su: 1) izračunavanje ukupne vanbolničke potro&scaron;nje lekova za lečenje kardiovaskularnih bolesti na teritoriji Novog Sada i njeno poređenje sa propisivanjem u Republici Srbiji i u zemljama sa razvijenom farmakoterapijskom praksom; 2) analiza strukture propisanih lekova za lečenje kardiovaskularnih bolesti (grupa C prema ATC klasifikaciji) po grupama i njeno poređenje sa propisivanjem u Republici Srbiji i u zemljama sa razvijenom farmakoterapijskom praksom; 3) analiza strukture propisanih lekova po dijagnozama i provera usklađenosti sa farmakoterapijskim smernicama; 4) komparacija propisanih lekova sa morbiditetnom statistikom kardiovaskularnih bolesti; 5) analiza farmakoekonomskih aspekata propisivanja lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti. Sprovedeno istraživanje spada u IV fazu kliničkih ispitivanja-farmakoepidemiolo&scaron;ko, retrospektivno, opservaciono. Podaci su prikupljeni na osnovu izve&scaron;taja iz elektronske baze podataka za period od 6 meseci (01. 01. 2012 &minus; 01. 07. 2012), na teritoriji grada Novog Sada. Na osnovu ovih podataka na teritoriji grada Novog Sada analizirana je upotreba lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti na 100% uzorku stanovnika. Ispitivanje se sastojalo iz dva dela. Prvi deo obuhvata prikupljanje, obradu i analizu podataka o ukupno propisanoj količni lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti na teritoriji grada Novog Sada. U drugom delu istraživanja kori&scaron;ćenjem podataka dobijenih iz državne &bdquo;Apoteke Novi Sad&ldquo; detaljnije je analizirana upotreba lekova za lečenje kardiovaskularnih bolesti izdatih na recept. Upotreba lekova analizirana je: prema uzrastu i polu pacijenata, prema dijagnozama za koje su lekovi propisani i prema ceni. Sruktura upotrebe lekova po indikacijama za dijagnoze kod kojih je ukupna upotreba propisanih lekova bila veća od 1 DDD/1000stanovnika/dan upoređena je sa postojećim nacionalnim vodičima i sa upotrebom u zemljama sa razvijenom farmakoterapijskom praksom, odnosno sa međunarodnim vodičima. Ovi podaci upoređeni su sa morbiditetnom statistikom na teritoriji grada Novog Sada. Ukupno propisana količina lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti u posmatranom periodu iznosila je 399,79 DDD/1000st/dan. Od te količine, preko polovine (201,11DDD/1000st/dan) propisivanih lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti su lekovi koji deluju na sistem renin-angiotenzin, slede blokatori kalcijumskih kanala, zatim blokatori beta-adrenergičkih receptora, a na četvrtom mestu po ukupno propisanoj količini su lekovi za terapiju bolesti srca. Od najče&scaron;ćih dijagnoza za koje su propisivani lekovi za kardiovaskularne bolesti, najzastupljenije su bile arterijska hipertenzija, a potom ishemijska bolest srca. Upotreba lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti u vanbolničkoj sredini na teritoriji grada Novog Sada (399,79 DDD/1000st/dan) vi&scaron;a je u odnosu na zemlje u okruženju (Hrvatsku, Crnu Goru), a niža u odnosu na zemlje sa razvijenom farmakoterapijskom praksom. U odnosu na zemlje sa razvijenom farmakoterapijskom praksom postoje odstupanja u pogledu strukture propisivanja. Struktura propisivanja lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti odstupa od važećih nacionalnih vodiča o racionalnoj upotrebi lekova za kardiovaskularne bolesti u Republici Srbiji. Istovremeno struktura propisanih lekova nije u skladu sa morbiditetnom statistikom kardiovaskularnih bolesti prema zvaničnim podacima. Među 10 najče&scaron;će propisanih lekova nalaze se i skupi lekovi, koji imaju adekvatne, a mnogo jeftinije paralele. Nedovoljno i neracionalno lečenje kardiovaskularnih bolesti verovatno su jedan od značajnih razloga za visoku smrtnost od kardiovaskularnih bolesti u Srbiji.</p> / <p>Due to high rates of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, the share drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases significantly contributes to a total utilization among drugs in the world. There is an evident increase in the consumption of drugs for cardiovascular diseases. In order to achieve as much as possible a higher level of rationalization of therapy in most countries the professional bodies making pharmacotherapeutic guidelines to the possibility of the wrong treatment was reduced to a minimum. In this way, the physician-practitioner provided the security proper selection and the most appropriate procedure in the circumstances. The objectives of this study were: 1) the calculation of the total outpatient consumption of drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases on the territory of Novi Sad and its comparison with the prescribing in the Republic of Serbia and the countries with developed pharmacotherapeutical practice; 2) analysis of the structure of prescribed drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (group C according to the ATC classification) by the groups and its comparison with the prescribing in the Republic of Serbia and the countries with developed pharmacotherapeutical practice 3) analysis of the structure of prescribed drugs per diagnosis and verification of compliance with pharmacotherapeutic guidelines; 4) comparison of prescribed drugs with morbidity statistics cardiovascular diseases; 5) analysis of pharmacoeconomic aspects of prescribing drugs for cardiovascular diseases. A research conducted among the phase IV clinical trials-pharmacoepidemiological, retrospective observational. Data were collected on the basis of a report from the electronic database for the period of 6 months (01. 01. 2012 - 01. 07. 2012), on the territory of the city of Novi Sad. Based on these data on the territory of the city of Novi Sad analyzed the use of drugs for cardiovascular diseases at 100% sample of the population. The research consisted of two parts. The first part comprises the collection, processing and analysis of data on the total quantity of the prescribed cardiovascular drugs on the territory of the city of Novi Sad. In the second part of this research using data from the public &quot;Pharmacy Novi Sad&quot; is a more detailed analysis of the utilization of drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases of prescription. The utilization of drugs is analyzed: according to the age and sex of patients, in diagnosis for which the drugs prescribed and to the cost. Structure of the use of drugs by indications for diagnosis in which the total utilization of prescribed drugs was greater than 1 DDD/1000inhabitants/day was compared with the existing national guidelines and use in countries with developed pharmacotherapeutical practice, and with international guidelines. These data were compared with morbidity statistics on the territory of the city of Novi Sad. Total amount of prescribed drugs for cardiovascular diseases in the examined period was 399.79 DDD/1000inh/day. Of this amount, more than half (201.11 DDD/1000inh/day) were drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system, followed by calcium channel blockers, beta adrenergic receptor blockers, and fourth in total prescribed quantity drugs for treatment of heart diseases. Of the most common diagnosis for which drugs for cardiovascular diseases were prescribed, the most common were arterial hypertension, and then ischemic heart disease. The use of drugs for cardiovascular diseases in outpatient environment on the territory of the city of Novi Sad (399.79 DDD/1000inh/day) is higher compared to neighboring countries (Croatia, Montenegro), and lower than in countries with developed pharmacotherapeutical practice. Compared to countries with developed pharmacotherapeutical practice there are variations in terms of the structure of prescribing. Structure of prescribing of drugs for cardiovascular diseases deviates from the existing national guidelines on rational use of drugs for cardiovascular diseases in the Republic of Serbia. At the same time the structure of prescribed drugs is not in compliance with morbidity statistics cardiovascular diseases according to official data. Among the 10 most commonly prescribed drugs are costly drugs, that have adequate, and much cheaper parallels. Insufficient and irrational treatment of cardiovascular diseases are probably one of the major reasons for the high mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Serbia.</p>

O crescente consumo de medicamentos psicoativos (MPA) pela população brasileira e mundial no século XXI, atrelado ao fato de que algumas dessas substâncias podem gerar dependência física e/ou psíquica nos sujeitos que os utilizam, apontam para a necessidade de desenvolver estudos epidemiológicos que forneçam subsídios para o planejamento de intervenções em saúde que garantam o uso racional desses medicamentos. Este estudo transversal visa estimar a prevalência e caracterizar o perfil de utilização de MPA entre usuários de medicamentos atendidos por todas as farmácias das unidades de saúde do município de Ribeirão Preto-SP, relacionando esses achados com fatores associados ao consumo dessas substâncias. Uma amostra de 1355 usuários de medicamentos (psicoativos ou não) foi entrevistada nas filas das referidas farmácias de setembro a dezembro de 2012. Os pesquisadores coletaram dados sociodemográficos e relacionados à saúde dos indivíduos, além de registrarem todos os medicamentos contidos nas prescrições. Em seguida, três instrumentos foram aplicados para avaliar as variáveis clínicas (i) conhecimento dos indivíduos sobre a farmacoterapia, (ii) adesão à farmacoterapia e (iii) qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde (QdV). A prevalência de uso de MPA foi 31,0% (n=420), sendo que os mais prescritos foram antidepressivos (53,5%) e benzodiazepínicos (24,6%). A maioria dos usuários de MPA era do gênero feminino (81,9%), vivia com companheiro (52,6%), não trabalhava (70,7%), possuía plano de saúde privado (69,2%) e renda per capita de até um salário mínimo (54,0%), não realizava acompanhamento com psicólogo (93,3%), não praticava atividade física regular (78,3%), consumia café diariamente (81,0%), não consumia álcool (86,7%), não fumava (81,4%) e não encontrava-se em polifarmácia (62,4%). A idade média foi 54,5 (DP 13,9) e a escolaridade média correspondeu ao Ensino Fundamental incompleto. Pouco mais da metade dos usuários de MPA exibiram conhecimento satisfatório sobre a farmacoterapia e foram considerados aderentes (57,8% e 53,0%, respectivamente) e a maioria não apresentou QdV satisfatória (73,1%). Houve diferença estatisticamente significativa (p<0,05) entre usuários de MPA e não usuários para as variáveis gênero, faixa etária, situação conjugal, moradia, situação profissional, cuidador, acompanhamento com psicólogo, atividade física regular, consumo de álcool, tabagismo, polifarmácia, conhecimento médio sobre a farmacoterapia, adesão média à farmacoterapia, QdV satisfatória, índice médio EQ- 5D e QdV autorreferida média. Os valores de odds ratio (OR) ajustados mostraram que os fatores associados positivamente com o uso de MPA foram gênero feminino (OR = 2,02; IC 95% 1,31; 3,11) e maior idade (ORref./idosos = 0,36; IC 95% 0,13; 0,99). Dentre os usuários de benzodiazepínicos, 51,1% relatou estar em uso desses MPA há dois anos ou mais, dos quais 55,1% eram idosos. Aproximadamente um em cada três indivíduos utilizava pelo menos um MPA no período estudado, sendo que idosos e mulheres apresentaram maiores chances de uso. Os MPA mais prevalentes foram os antidepressivos e os benzodiazepínicos, sendo a maioria dos usuários destes últimos estava em tratamento com esses MPA há mais de dois anos, dos quais mais da metade eram idosos / The increasing consumption of psychoactive drugs (PAD) in Brazil and worldwide, linked to the fact that some of these substances can cause physical and/or psychic dependence in their users, indicate the need to develop epidemiological studies providing support for planning of health interventions so as to ensure the rational use of these medicines. This cross-sectional study aims to estimate the prevalence and characterize the usage profile of PAD among drug users served by all health facilities\' pharmacies in Ribeirão Preto-SP, relating these findings with factors associated with the consumption of these substances. From september to december 2012, a sample of 1355 drug users (psychoactive or not) was interviewed while waiting in the pharmacies to get their medication. The researchers collected sociodemographic and health related data of individuals, in addition to registering all drugs contained in prescriptions. Then, three instruments were applied to assess the clinical variables (i) knowledge of pharmacotherapy, (ii) adherence to the pharmacotherapy and (iii) health related quality of life (QoL). The prevalence of PAD usage was 31,0% (n = 420), and the most prescribed were antidepressants (53,5%) and benzodiazepines (24,6%). Most PAD users were female (81,9%), lived with a partner (52,6%), did not have a job (70,7%), had a private health insurance (69,2%) and income per capita up to the minimum wage (54,0%), did not undergo follow-up with a psychologist (93,3%), did not practice regular physical activity (78,3%), consumed coffee daily (81,0%), did not consume alcohol (86,7%), did not smoke (81,4%) and were not found in polypharmacy (62,4%). The mean age was 54,5 (SD 13,9) and the average schooling corresponded to incomplete primary education. Over half of the users of MPA exhibited satisfactory knowledge about pharmacotherapy and were considered adherent (57,8% and 53,0%, respectively), and most showed no satisfactory QoL (73,1%). There was a statistically significant difference (p <0.05) between PAD users and nonusers for the variables gender, age, marital status, housing, employment status, caregiver, follow up with psychologist, regular physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, polypharmacy, average knowledge about pharmacotherapy, mean adherence to pharmacotherapy, satisfactory QoL, mean EQ-5D index and average self-reported QoL. The adjusted odds ratios (OR) showed that the factors positively associated with the PAD use were female gender (OR = 2,02; 95% CI 1,31; 3,11) and age (ORref./elderly = 0,36, 95% CI 0,13; 0,99). Considering benzodiazepines users, 51,1% reported being in use these PAD for at least two years, 55,1% of whom were elderly. Approximately one in three individuals used at least one PAD in the period studied, while the elderly and women were more likely to use. The most prevalent PAD were antidepressants and benzodiazepines, with most users of the latter receiving these MPA for over two years, of which more than half were elderly.