Francisco de Assis Acurcio

Drug-Drug Interactions Associated with Length of Stay and Cost of Hospitalization

PURPOSE To evaluate the prevalence of drug-drug interactions (DDI) in prescriptions of hospitalized patients and to identify risk factors associated. METHODS A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of prescription data and medical records from a public hospital in Brazil was conducted to identify potential DDI. An inappropriate drug combination was identified and classified with a standard drug interaction source. The main diagnoses were classified with Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Sex, age, polypharmacy and length of stay, among other variables, were correlated with the frequency of potential DDI. RESULTS The study included 589 patients and 3,585 prescriptions. Thirty-seven percent of the patients were exposed to at least one potential interaction during their stay in the hospital. The most frequent interacting pair was Digoxin+Furosemide (11%). In univariate analysis, several variables were associated with DDI, including sex, age, number of prescribed drugs, length and cost of hospitalization and CCI. Multivariate analysis showed that the adjusted odds of being prescribed a potential DDI among patients in polypharmacy was almost five-fold that of patients taking less than five drugs. Further, length of stay, CCI and cost of hospitalization were independently associated with DDI. CONCLUSION Analysis of prescription data found that a substantial number of potential DDI were identified. Results of this study indicate that DDI is associated with number of prescribed drugs, increased duration of stay in the hospital and cost, which suggest that DDI are a significant clinical and economic problem. Potential damage to patients could be avoided.

Non-adherence among patients initiating antiretroviral therapy: a challenge for health professionals in Brazil.

Objective:To assess the incidence, magnitude and factors associated with the first episode of non-adherence for 12 months after the first antiretroviral prescription. Design:A prospective study of HIV-infected patients receiving their first antiretroviral prescription in public referral centers, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Baseline assessment occurred at the moment of the first prescription and follow-up visits at the first, fourth and seventh month, from May 2001 to May 2003. Methods:Non-adherence was self-reported and defined as the intake of less than 95% of the prescribed doses for 3 days before the follow-up interviews. Cumulative and person-time incidence were estimated and Coxs proportional model was used to assess the relative hazard (RH) of non-adherence with 95% confidence interval for both univariate and multivariate analysis. Results:Among 306 patients, the cumulative incidence of non-adherence was 36.9% (incidence rate 0.21/100 person-days). Multivariate analysis (P < 0.05) showed that unemployment (RH = 2.17), alcohol use (RH = 2.27), self-report of three or more adverse reactions (RH = 1.64), number of pills per day (RH = 2.04), switch in antiretroviral regimen (RH = 2.72), and a longer time between the HIV test result and the first antiretroviral prescription (RH = 2.27) were associated with an increased risk of non-adherence, whereas the use of more than one health service indicated a negative association (RH = 0.54). Conclusion:The current analysis has pointed out the importance of clinical and health service characteristics as potential indicators of non-adherence after initiating therapy. Early assessment and intervention strategies should be priorities in these AIDS public referral centres. Feasible and reliable indicators for the routine monitoring of adherence should be incorporated in clinical practice.

Drug utilization and polypharmacy among the elderly: a survey in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil

OBJECTIVES To describe drug utilization by Brazilian retirees with an emphasis on inappropriate use. METHODS Cross-sectional study with a simple random sample of 800 retirees of the Brazilian Institute of Social Security, 60 years of age and older, residing in Rio de Janeiro City, through face-to-face interviews. RESULTS Medication use in the 15 days before the study was reported by 85% of the sample, with a mean of 3.7 products per person (standard deviation=2.9). About half the sample used one to four medications and a third used five or more. The highest number of drugs used per patient was 24. More women than men used multiple medications. There is a tendency toward positive association (P<0.001) between drug use and variables relating to disease and health care. This trend continues in the analysis by gender. Men who reported five or more diseases were five times more likely to use multiple drugs than men with up to two (zero, one, or two) diseases (prevalence ratio 5.21, 95% confidence interval=2.48-10.90). Women who reported five or more diseases were nearly four times more likely to use multiple drugs than women with up to two diseases (prevalence ratio 3.67, 95% confidence interval=2.24-6.02). Of the active substances used by the sample, 10% were considered inappropriate. CONCLUSIONS To improve drug therapy for the elderly, health practitioners can take measures to reduce unwarranted use of medication and to optimize the benefits from important drugs. Further studies should be conducted to adjust lists of medications inappropriate for the elderly to the situation in developing countries.

Are new models needed to optimize the utilization of new medicines to sustain healthcare systems

Medicines have made an appreciable contribution to improving health. However, even high-income countries are struggling to fund new premium-priced medicines. This will grow necessitating the development of new models to optimize their use. The objective is to review case histories among health authorities to improve the utilization and expenditure on new medicines. Subsequently, use these to develop exemplar models and outline their implications. A number of issues and challenges were identified from the case histories. These included the low number of new medicines seen as innovative alongside increasing requested prices for their reimbursement, especially for oncology, orphan diseases, diabetes and HCV. Proposed models center on the three pillars of pre-, peri- and post-launch including critical drug evaluation, as well as multi-criteria models for valuing medicines for orphan diseases alongside potentially capping pharmaceutical expenditure. In conclusion, the proposed models involving all key stakeholder groups are critical for the sustainability of healthcare systems or enhancing universal access. The models should help stimulate debate as well as restore trust between key stakeholder groups.

Inquérito sobre uso de medicamentos por idosos aposentados, Belo Horizonte,MG

OBJETIVO: Caracterizar o uso de medicamentos por aposentados e pensionistas idosos, com enfase nas diferencas entre generos. METODOS: Inquerito domiciliar conduzido com amostra aleatoria simples de 667 individuos com 60 anos ou mais, residentes em Belo Horizonte, MG, em 2003. Os idosos foram entrevistados por farmaceuticos, utilizando questionario padronizado. Foram estimadas a prevalencia de uso e a media de medicamentos usados nos ultimos 15 dias anteriores a entrevista, as quais foram estratificadas de acordo com o genero segundo variaveis sociodemograficas e de saude. RESULTADOS: A prevalencia de uso de medicamentos foi de 90,1%, significativamente maior entre as mulheres (93,4%) do que entre os homens (84,3%). Mulheres utilizaram em media 4,6±3,2 produtos e homens 3,3±2,6 (p<0,001). Os principios ativos mais usados pelos idosos pertenciam aos sistemas cardiovascular, nervoso, e do trato alimentar e metabolismo. O consumo foi superior entre as mulheres nesses tres grupos, assim como as medias de uso de medicamentos segundo variaveis sociodemograficas e de saude selecionadas. CONCLUSOES: O estudo identificou uso mais intenso de medicamentos pelas mulheres, fato que as torna mais vulneraveis aos prejuizos de polifarmacia, como risco de interacoes e uso inadequado.

Disponibilidade de medicamentos essenciais em duas regiões de Minas Gerais, Brasil

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a disponibilidade de medicamentos essenciais em localidades com indice de desenvolvimento humano < 0,699. METODOS: Foram pesquisados 69 estabelecimentos, entre almoxarifados municipais, unidades ambulatoriais publicas, unidades privadas, unidades filantropicas e farmacias comerciais. Foram entrevistados os profissionais de saude diretamente responsaveis pelo controle dos estoques e dispensacao dos medicamentos. Tambem foram consultados documentos e registros institucionais. Uma lista de 21 medicamentos essenciais tracadores, selecionados dentre aqueles mais utilizados no Programa Farmacia Basica do Estado de Minas Gerais, foi definida como parâmetro para as medidas de disponibilidade. Para cada medicamento tracador foi verificada a disponibilidade no momento da visita e ao longo dos 12 meses imediatamente anteriores a pesquisa de campo. Tambem foi calculada a disponibilidade de cada um dos medicamentos essenciais tracadores para cada tipo de estabelecimento incluido na pesquisa de campo. RESULTADOS: A disponibilidade de medicamentos essenciais nos almoxarifados municipais foi de 52,0%; nas unidades publicas de saude, 46,9%; e nas unidades ambulatoriais filantropicas e privadas, 41,0% e 38,1%, respectivamente. Nas farmacias privadas, a disponibilidade de medicamentos essenciais alcancou 81,2%. CONCLUSAO: Ha baixa disponibilidade e descontinuidade na oferta de medicamentos essenciais no setor publico, penalizando individuos vulneraveis. As farmacias privadas sao a principal fonte de medicamentos essenciais. Os resultados indicam a necessidade de divulgar e implementar o conceito de essencialidade no pais.

Judicialização do acesso a medicamentos no Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil

OBJETIVO: Analisar o perfil dos requerentes e dos medicamentos pleiteados em acoes judiciais. METODOS: Estudo descritivo sobre 827 processos judiciais com 1.777 pedidos de medicamentos de 2005 a 2006 no Estado de Minas Gerais. Avaliaram-se os tipos de atendimento no sistema de saude e a representacao dos autores junto ao Poder Judiciario. Os medicamentos foram descritos segundo registro na Agencia Nacional de Vigilância Sanitaria, essencialidade, inclusao programatica no Sistema Unico de Saude e evidencias de eficacia. RESULTADOS: Mais de 70% dos autores foram atendidos no sistema privado de saude e 60,3% foram representados por advogados particulares. O diagnostico mais frequente foi o de artrite reumatoide (23,1%) e os imunossupressores foram os medicamentos mais solicitados (principalmente adalimumabe e etanercepte). Aproximadamente 5% dos medicamentos pleiteados nao eram registrados na Agencia, 19,6% estavam presentes na Relacao Nacional de Medicamentos Essenciais, 24,3% compunham o Programa de Medicamentos de Alto Custo e 53,9% apresentavam evidencia consistente de eficacia. Dentre os medicamentos nao disponiveis no sistema publico, 79,0% apresentavam alternativa terapeutica nos programas de assistencia farmaceutica. CONCLUSOES: O fenomeno da judicializacao na saude pode indicar falhas do sistema publico de saude, uma vez que ha solicitacoes de medicamentos constantes de suas listas. Todavia, constitui um obstaculo para a pratica do uso racional de medicamentos e para a consolidacao das premissas da Politica Nacional de Medicamentos, principalmente quando sao solicitados medicamentos sem comprovacao de eficacia e nao padronizados pelo Sistema Unico de Saude.OBJECTIVE To analyze the profile of claimants and medicines demanded in lawsuits. METHODS Descriptive study that examined 827 lawsuits with 1,777 demands of access to medicines in the period between July 2005 and June 2006 in the state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. There were examined the type of health care provided to claimants and their attorneyship. The medicines were described based on the following: drug registration at the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa); wheter they were essential medicines; supply in the Brazilian Health System programs; and evidence of drug efficacy. RESULTS More than 70% of the claimants were provided care in the private health system and 60.3% hired private lawyers. The most common diagnosis of claimants was rheumatoid arthritis (23.1%) and the immunosuppressant agents were the most frequent demand medicines (mainly adalimumab and etanercept). Approximately 5% of the medicines demanded were not registered at Anvisa, 19.6% were included in the Brazilian List of Essential Medicine, 24.3% were included in the High-Cost Drug Program and 53.9% showed consistent evidence of efficacy. Among the medicines that were not available in Brazilian Health System, 79.0% had therapeutic alternatives in drug programs. CONCLUSIONS The phenomenon of judicialization of health in Brazil can point out failures in the public health system as some medicines demanded are included in its lists. However, it is a barrier for rational drug use and application of the National Drug Policy guidelines, especially when there are demanded medicines with no evidence of efficacy and that are not included in Brazilian Health System standards.

Prevalence of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C among adults with mental illness: a multicenter study in Brazil

OBJECTIVE There is evidence that patients with mental illness have increased prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, but data in Brazil are scarce. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C and B, and syphilis among patients with mental illness in Brazil. METHOD A multicenter representative sample of adults with mental illness was randomly selected from 26 mental health institutions throughout Brazil. Sociodemographic, sexual behavior and clinical data were obtained from person-to-person interviews and blood was collected for serology testing. Seroprevalence with 95% confidence limits were obtained correcting for sampling scheme. RESULTS Of the 2,475 patients interviewed, 2,238 had blood collected. Most participants were sexually active ever (88.8%) or in the last 6 months (61.6%), female (51.9%), and single (66.6%). Half of the sample had less than 5 years of schooling and the mean monthly individual income was low (US

Avaliação da qualidade dos serviços de saúde: notas bibliográficas

210.00). Condom use was very low either during lifetime (8%) or in the last 6 months (16%). Overall seroprevalence were 1.12%, 0.80%, 1.64%, 14.7% and 2.63% for, respectively, syphilis, HIV, HBsAg, anti-HBc and anti-HCV. CONCLUSIONS Seroprevalences found were higher than other populations with representative studies in Brazil, with high rates of sexual risk behavior. This is of public health concern, and prevention and care strategies for sexually transmitted infections among psychiatric patients should urgently be implemented by health authorities.

Qualidade do uso de medicamentos por idosos: uma revisão dos métodos de avaliação disponíveis

No momento em que se discute a reorganizacao dos servicos de saude no Brasil, a avaliacao da qualidade destes servicos ganha importância. Nesta revisao, buscamos os antecedentes historicos da avaliacao dos servicos de saude e apresentamos as propostas contemporâneas de sistematizacao da avaliacao de qualidade. Atraves da analise dos trabalhos revisados, identificamos duas grandes linhas metodologicas de acordo com seu objeto de estudo: Estudos Corporativos Racionalizadores e Estudos Antropossociais. A maioria destes se referenciam nos trabalhos desenvolvidos por Avedis Donabedian, autor que, nos ultimos vinte anos, vem desenvolvendo estudos de avaliacao dos servicos de saude.