Introduction: Potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) have been defined as the prescribing of medications where the risk of adverse outcomes outweighs the benefit to patients. Some medications pose a greater risk than others. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antiplatelets, and anticoagulants are among the top offenders for preventable drug-related ER visits, hospitalizations and deaths. Methods: Data were collected through a retrospective electronic/paper chart review for all patients prescribed a target medication in two family medicine clinics in Winnipeg, Manitoba from June 2012 to June 2013. Results: The presence of at least one PIP was identified in 198 of 567 patients (35%). The most common PIP was the use of an oral NSAID with one or more gastrointestinal bleed risk factor without adequate gastro-protection. Conclusion: With over one-third of patients using NSAIDs, antiplatelets, and anticoagulants potentially inappropriately, a greater focus on improving prescribing practices with these higher-risk medications is warranted.

Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing (PIP) is common in Canada yet little is known about its health system costs or which PIPs have the greatest cost impact. This thesis examined the health system costs from hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits and medications from all PIP, and for distinct PIP. PIPs were identified in a cohort of older adults in Ontario using a subset of the STOPP/START criteria applicable to health administrative databases, and all analyses were conducted by comparing participants with and without PIP. In study one, the costs from hospitalization, ED visits and newly prescribed medications were identified using population attributable fractions. PIP was identified as responsible for a sizeable portion of all three cost categories, with hospitalization and ED visits costs most highly impacted. Study two compared the incremental costs due to PIP among four distinct PIP criteria selected based on differing frequency and crude costs to validate the use of such characteristics for priority-setting. The crude healthcare costs, as well as the cost of the drug causing the PIP and the frequency of the PIP were identified as likely key characteristics of high-impact PIP. Combined, these studies provide evidence on the overall burden of PIP, while also identifying likely characteristics of high-impact PIP. They suggest interventions at the health system level may be needed to address medication appropriateness and provide information which may be helpful to decision-makers when identifying which PIPs should be targeted for intervention, given no health system level interventions for PIP are currently in place.

The general aim of this thesis was to examine the effect of interventions on the usage of inappropriate and hazardous multi-medication in the elderly ≥75 years with ≥5 drugs. Methods: Paper I describes a cluster randomization of nursing homes, the outcomes were; number of drugs, health status and evaluations. A randomized controlled trial concerning elderly in ordinary homes was performed in paper II and the outcomes were; EQ-5D index, EQ VAS and prescription quality. In paper III a cohort study was carried out and the outcomes were; medication appropriateness index, EQ-5D index and EQ VAS. In paper IV, registered nurses from the nursing homes study were interviewed in a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Results:There was a significant reduction of number of drugs used per patient at the intervention nursing homes (p<0.05). Monitoring and evaluation of medications were significantly more frequent at the intervention homes (p<0.01). The registered nurses at the nursing homes described a self-made role in their profession and the leadership was not at sight. Drug treatment seems to be a passive process without own reflection. Extreme polypharmacy was persistent in all three groups of elderly living in ordinary homes and there was an unchanged frequency of drug-risk indicators. In the cohort study a lower medication quality was shown to be associated with a lower quality of life. EQ-5D index was statistically significantly different among the groups as was EQ VAS. Conclusion: The nursing home study showed an extreme shortage of monitoring of health status and surveillance of the effects of drugs in the elderly. More attention must be focused on the complexity of the nursing process; medication management must be promoted in teamwork with the physician. The resistance to change prescriptions in accordance with the intervention underlines the need of new strategies for improving prescription quality. Since medication quality is related to the patients’ quality of life, there is immense reason to continuously evaluate every prescription and treatment in shared decision with the patient.

Les sujets âgés sont souvent atteints de nombreuses comorbidités. Leur prise en charge thérapeutique selon les recommandations en vigueur peut être à l’origine d’une polymédication. La prescription de psychotropes est fréquemment retrouvée dans les traitements des sujets âgés. Cette classe thérapeutique est à haut risque iatrogène potentiel dans cette population vulnérable. Les effets indésirables médicamenteux les plus notables sont les chutes, les fractures et les troubles confusionnels. L’identification des psychotropes potentiellement inappropriés (PPI) chez les sujets âgés à l’aide de la liste de Beers a fait l’objet de peu de travaux.Les objectifs de cette thèse étaient d’identifier les prescriptions de psychotropes potentiellement inappropriés (PPI) à l’aide des listes de Beers actualisées dans les traitements de sujets hospitalisés ou vivant en Etablissement d’hébergement pour personnes âgées dépendantes (EHPAD). Les facteurs liés à ces prescriptions ont aussi été recherchés.La polymédication, ainsi que les troubles neuropsychiatriques du sujet âgé doivent rendre le prescripteur de psychotropes particulièrement vigilant dans cette population particulièrement vulnérable.L’usage des listes de médicaments potentiellement inappropriés (MPI) pourrait permettre d’identifier les psychotropes au rapport bénéfice risque défavorable chez les sujets âgés. Et orienter le choix du prescripteur vers des traitements plus favorables au patient. / Elderly people often have many comorbidities. Therapeutic management according to the recommendations in force may be at the origin of a polymedication. The prescription of psychotropic drugs is frequently found in the treatment of elderly patients. This therapeutic class is at high potential iatrogenic risk in this vulnerable population. The most notable adverse drug reactions are falls, fractures and confusion. The identification of potentially inappropriate psychotropic medications (PIP) in elderly subjects using the Beers list has received little attention.The objective of this thesis was to identify the prescriptions of potentially inappropriate psychotropic drugs (PIP) using the updated Beers lists in the treatment of subjects hospitalized or living in the nursing home. Factors related to these treatment s were also investigated.Polymedication, as well as neuropsychiatric disorders in the elderly, should make the prescriber of psychotropic drugs particularly vigilant in this particularly vulnerable population.The use of lists of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) could identify psychotropic drugs with an unfavorable risk-benefit ratio in elderly subjects. And direct the choice of the prescriber towards treatments more favorable to the patient.

Na atualidade, a questão dos eventos adversos a medicamentos nos idosos apresenta grande importância, dada a expansão populacional deste grupo e o impacto negativo destes eventos, que muitas vezes apresenta associação com o uso de medicamentos potencialmente inapropriados (MPI). Tendo em vista que os resultados dos estudos sobre o impacto do uso de MPI na mortalidade de idosos, ainda são inconclusivos, o objetivo foi identificar e analisar na literatura científica as evidências de que o uso de MPI em idosos, segundo critério de Beers, encontra-se associado a mortalidade. Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática finalizada em 20 de Julho de 2012, cujos procedimentos metodológicos seguiram as recomendações do Joanna Briggs Institutte e Systematic Reviews Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidance for undertaking reviews in health care. Na busca das publicações foram utilizadas as bases de dados Pubmed/Medline, Lilacs, Scopus, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of science, Sciencedirect; CINAHL, Current contents connect, Proquest Dissertation and Theses, Banco de teses-CAPES. A seleção das publicações e extração das informações dos estudos foi realizada por dois investigadores de forma independente. A qualidade metodológica dos estudos foi avaliada pela lista de verificação Newcastle-Ottawa. A amostra da RS foi constituída por 17 estudos, sendo que destes, oito publicações compuseram a metanálise. Na síntese descritiva observou-se que a maioria dos estudos apresentou nível de evidência IV (94,1%), cujo delineamento foi coorte (94,1%), usou técnica de amostragem não probabilística (64,7%), coletou dados de modo prospectivo (64,7%), utilizou amostra superior a 1.000 idosos (64,7%), realizou seguimento de 12 a 24 meses (52,9%) e a obtenção do desfecho mortalidade ocorreu em bases de dados (64,7%). A metanálise que totalizou a participação de 90.611 participantes apontou que idosos que utilizaram MPI apresentaram maior risco relativo para o desfecho de mortalidade (RR=1,11; IC 95% 1,01 1,22; p = 0,023), de acordo com os critérios de Beers, independente do cenário do estudo, da existência de comorbidades, de polifarmácia ou do tipo de MPI usado. / Currently, the issue of adverse drug events in the elderly presents great importance, given the expansion of this population group and the negative impact of these events, which often presents association with the use of Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIM). Having in mind that the results of studies on the impact of using MPI elderly mortality are still inconclusive, the aim was to identify and analyze the evidences in the scientific literature that the use of PIM in the elderly, according to the Beers criteria, is associated with mortality. This is a Systematic Review finalized in July 20, 2012, whose methodological procedures followed the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institutte and Systematic Reviews - Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health Care. In the search of the publications were used databases Pubmed / Medline, Lilacs, Scopus, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of science, Sciencedirect, CINAHL, Current Contents Connect, Proquest Dissertation and Theses database-CAPES. The selection of publications and extraction of the information of the studies was conducted by two researchers independently. The methodological quality of studies was assessed by checklist Newcastle-Ottawa. The sample was composed of RS 17 studies, of which eight publications were included in the meta-analysis. In the synthesis descriptive observed that most studies showed level of evidence IV (94.1%), whose design was cohort (94.1%) used non-probability sampling technique (64.7%), collected data from prospectively (64.7%) used sample of more than 1,000 elderly (64.7%), realized during 12 to 24 months (52.9%) and obtaining of outcome mortality occurred in databases (64.7% ). The meta-analysis which totaled the participation of 90,611 participants pointed out that the elderly who have used PIM had higher relative risk for the outcome of mortality (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.22, p = 0.023), according to Beers criteria, regardless of the setting of the study, the existence of co-morbidities, polypharmacy, or the type of PIM used.

Background: Inappropriate use of medications (IUM), in particular inappropriate prescribing and non-adherence to prescribed medications, are important causes of drug-related morbidities (DRMs). They are increasing problems with the ageing populations and the growing burden of chronic conditions. However, research is needed on the association of IUMs with DRMs in outpatient settings and in the general population. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to estimate and analyse the burden of potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) in the elderly and non-adherence to long-term medications among adults across care settings, and to investigate how IUM is associated to DRMs. Methods: A meta-analysis summarised the previous evidence on the percentage of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated to IUM across healthcare settings (Study I). From a cohort in the general population, using medical records and register data, the prevalence of PIPs in the elderly and its association with ADRs were estimated retrospectively (Study II). From the same cohort, the factors associated with refill non-adherence to antihypertensive therapy, considering the use of multiple medications, and the association between non-adherence and sub-therapeutic effects (STEs) were investigated (Study III). A survey assessed the refill behaviour to antihypertensive, lipid lowering and oral antidiabetic medications (undersupply, adequate supply and oversupply), and its association with perceived ADRs and STEs (Study IV). Results: IUM was the cause 52% and 45% of ADRs occurring in adult outpatients and inpatients respectively. Across healthcare settings, 46% of the elderly refilled PIPs over a 6-month period; PIPs were considered the cause of 30% of all ADRs; and the elderly who were prescribed PIPs had increased odds to experience ADRs (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.65-3.69). In total, 35% was nonadherent to the full multidrug therapy and 13% was non-adherent to any medication (complete non-adherence).  Sociodemographic factors (working age and lower income) were associated with non-adherence to any medication, while clinical factors (use of specialised care, use of multiple medications, and being a new user) with non-adherence to the full multidrug therapy. STEs were associated with non-adherence to any medication a month prior to a healthcare visit (OR 3.27, 95% CI 1.27-8.49), but not with long-term measures of non-adherence. Among survey respondents, 22% of the medications were oversupplied and 12% were undersupplied. Inadequate refill behaviour was not associated with reporting ADRs or STEs (p<0.05). Conclusions: A large proportion of ADRs occurring in hospital is caused by IUM, but more knowledge is needed in other settings. PIPs are common in the elderly general population and associated with ADRs. Therefore decreasing PIPs could contribute towards ADR prevention. Considering the use of multiple medications may help to better understand the factors associated with non-adherence to a multidrug therapy for tailoring the interventions to patient needs. Monitoring the adherence prior to a healthcare visit may facilitate interpreting STEs. Yet, the absence of an association between long-term measures of refill non-adherence with clinical and perceived DRMs suggest the need to enhance the knowledge of this association in clinical practice. In summary, this thesis shows a significant potential for improvements of medication use and outcomes.

Na atualidade, a questão dos eventos adversos a medicamentos nos idosos apresenta grande importância, dada a expansão populacional deste grupo e o impacto negativo destes eventos, que muitas vezes apresenta associação com o uso de medicamentos potencialmente inapropriados (MPI). Tendo em vista que os resultados dos estudos sobre o impacto do uso de MPI na mortalidade de idosos, ainda são inconclusivos, o objetivo foi identificar e analisar na literatura científica as evidências de que o uso de MPI em idosos, segundo critério de Beers, encontra-se associado a mortalidade. Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática finalizada em 20 de Julho de 2012, cujos procedimentos metodológicos seguiram as recomendações do Joanna Briggs Institutte e Systematic Reviews Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidance for undertaking reviews in health care. Na busca das publicações foram utilizadas as bases de dados Pubmed/Medline, Lilacs, Scopus, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of science, Sciencedirect; CINAHL, Current contents connect, Proquest Dissertation and Theses, Banco de teses-CAPES. A seleção das publicações e extração das informações dos estudos foi realizada por dois investigadores de forma independente. A qualidade metodológica dos estudos foi avaliada pela lista de verificação Newcastle-Ottawa. A amostra da RS foi constituída por 17 estudos, sendo que destes, oito publicações compuseram a metanálise. Na síntese descritiva observou-se que a maioria dos estudos apresentou nível de evidência IV (94,1%), cujo delineamento foi coorte (94,1%), usou técnica de amostragem não probabilística (64,7%), coletou dados de modo prospectivo (64,7%), utilizou amostra superior a 1.000 idosos (64,7%), realizou seguimento de 12 a 24 meses (52,9%) e a obtenção do desfecho mortalidade ocorreu em bases de dados (64,7%). A metanálise que totalizou a participação de 90.611 participantes apontou que idosos que utilizaram MPI apresentaram maior risco relativo para o desfecho de mortalidade (RR=1,11; IC 95% 1,01 1,22; p = 0,023), de acordo com os critérios de Beers, independente do cenário do estudo, da existência de comorbidades, de polifarmácia ou do tipo de MPI usado. / Currently, the issue of adverse drug events in the elderly presents great importance, given the expansion of this population group and the negative impact of these events, which often presents association with the use of Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIM). Having in mind that the results of studies on the impact of using MPI elderly mortality are still inconclusive, the aim was to identify and analyze the evidences in the scientific literature that the use of PIM in the elderly, according to the Beers criteria, is associated with mortality. This is a Systematic Review finalized in July 20, 2012, whose methodological procedures followed the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institutte and Systematic Reviews - Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health Care. In the search of the publications were used databases Pubmed / Medline, Lilacs, Scopus, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of science, Sciencedirect, CINAHL, Current Contents Connect, Proquest Dissertation and Theses database-CAPES. The selection of publications and extraction of the information of the studies was conducted by two researchers independently. The methodological quality of studies was assessed by checklist Newcastle-Ottawa. The sample was composed of RS 17 studies, of which eight publications were included in the meta-analysis. In the synthesis descriptive observed that most studies showed level of evidence IV (94.1%), whose design was cohort (94.1%) used non-probability sampling technique (64.7%), collected data from prospectively (64.7%) used sample of more than 1,000 elderly (64.7%), realized during 12 to 24 months (52.9%) and obtaining of outcome mortality occurred in databases (64.7% ). The meta-analysis which totaled the participation of 90,611 participants pointed out that the elderly who have used PIM had higher relative risk for the outcome of mortality (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.22, p = 0.023), according to Beers criteria, regardless of the setting of the study, the existence of co-morbidities, polypharmacy, or the type of PIM used.

Title: Ageing of the population and specific aspects of prescribing of hypnotics in older adults (II.) Student: Karolína Puldová, Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Daniela Fialová, PharmD, Ph.D., Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové and Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic Introduction: World population is ageing and rational geriatric pharmacotherapy receives increasing attention. In seniors, rational pharmacotherapy is complicated by many risk factors, especially by physiological and pathological changes accompanying ageing, polymorbidity, polypharmacy, higher risk of adverse drug events, drug interactions and other risk factors. Particularly psychotropics belong to drug classes where rational prescribing in seniors often requires respecting of different rules. This diploma thesis focuses on specific aspects of irrational prescribing of hypnosedatives in ambulatory geriatric patients, particularly in the area of use of nongeriatric doses and nongeriatric lenght of therapy. Methodology: Data collection for this diploma thesis has been conducted between 2019-2020 years in the...

INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are currently on the first place among the causes of death worldwide and also in the Czech Republic (CR). The most common causes of death among CVDs are disorders associated with atherosclerosis (ATS) and the prevalence of atherosclerosis and their complications increases with increasing age. The aim of this diploma thesis was to document CVS morbidity in geriatric patients in the sample of FIP7 program of the EUROAGEISM H2020 project, mainly the prevalence of CVS disorders associated with ATS, and to evaluate the controll of risk factors associatedwith general risks of progression of ATS. METHODS The data collection for this theses was carried out in the CR from September 2018 to January 2019 in patients in acute care at the age of 65 and older at geriatric wards in Hradec Králové (HK) and Brno. Patients involved in the study were those admitted to hospitalization at the time of data collection, were complying with inclusion criteria and undersigned the informed consent. The Ethics committee of the Faculy of Pharmacy, Charles University and ethics committee of participating healthcare facilities approved the project. Information have been obtained using the questionnaire for comprehensive geriatric assessment which is the secured instrument of the...

INTRODUCTION: In the world population, the number of seniors with very heterogeneous health care is increasing. Because of the aging of the organism they are much more sensitive to adverse effects of drugs, therefore geriatric care is more visitors and safety pharmacotherapy. It thus seeks to prevent risky medicines available in geriatric patients. Many explicit targets have been disclosed that can be reserved for the potentially endangered by the elderly. Diuretics are among the classes of drugs that are often prescribed in the geriatric population but which pose significant risks to the geriatric patient. Problems with their unpleasant effects, but also poor indication or combination with minimal drugs. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this thesis was to describe the frequency and rationality of prescribing diuretics in seniors treated in geriatric outpatient clinics. The use of diuretics in appropriate and potentially inappropriate indications, the occurrence of changes accompanying adverse reactions (including laboratory changes in electrolytes and metabolic parameters) and whether these problems are controlled were monitored. The risks of hyponatraemia associated with diuretic therapy and the use of SIADH-inducing drugs were also assessed in more detail. METHODICS: This thesis was based on the...