Application of a prescribing indicators tool to assist in identifying drug-related problems in a cohort of older Australians

Abstract

The use of a prescribing indicators tool for commonly used medications and common medical conditions in older Australians may contribute to the efficient identification of DRPs.

A cross-sectional evaluation of the prevalence and detection of predictors of polypharmacy amongst adult in Spain

“…Polypharmacy has been associated with sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education, employment and socio‐economic status), influence of disease (multimorbidity, poor self‐reported health status and chronic illness) and health system factors (number of prescribers, perceived patient pressure or publically funded health care) . Several strategies promoted by community pharmacists have shown a reduction in the level of non‐adherence in patients on a polypharmacy regime and have been able to identify several drug‐related problems in older patients on a polypharmacy regime …”

“…[4,7,[11][12][13] Several strategies promoted by community pharmacists have shown a reduction in the level of non-adherence in patients on a polypharmacy regime [14] and have been able to identify several drug-related problems in older patients on a polypharmacy regime. [15] Although polypharmacy has been studied especially in older people as ageing implies greater morbidity, often resulting in the use of many different medicines, there are few studies in other age groups. Additionally, while polypharmacy has been extensively studied in several European countries, [16][17][18][19][20] research on this topic in Spain is scant.…”

Validation of prescribing appropriateness criteria for older Australians using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method

“…They were designed to contribute to the Australian quality use of medicines process 94. The information required to apply these criteria may be obtained from the patients or their carer, and patient medical notes and/or their healthcare professional 95. It may also be provided by a Home Medicines Review referral form from the patients’ general practitioner 23.…”

“…133 Some of this work has already started with the original criteria 95. Further, these criteria only cover commonly occurring medicines and medical conditions.…”

Improving the quality of prescribing in elderly hospital inpatients: evaluating the effect of a clinical pharmacist on ward rounds

“…There is also a supplementary table of contraindications and precautions to consider before commencing medications that may be suggested by the tool 47 . This tool has been used by pharmacists to successfully identify drug related problems in elderly patients 51 . The resulting tool and supplement are quite cumbersome to use, and the tool has a mix of medications that should be used and medications that should not be used interspersed through the table.…”