Neil Cottrell

What are validated self‐report adherence scales really measuring?: a systematic review

Medication non‐adherence is a significant health problem. There are numerous methods for measuring adherence, but no single method performs well on all criteria. The purpose of this systematic review is to (i) identify self‐report medication adherence scales that have been correlated with comparison measures of medication‐taking behaviour, (ii) assess how these scales measure adherence and (iii) explore how these adherence scales have been validated.

Integrating a pharmacist into the general practice environment: opinions of pharmacist’s, general practitioner’s, health care consumer’s, and practice manager’s

BackgroundPharmacists are viewed as highly trained yet underutilised and there is growing support to extend the role of the pharmacist within the primary health care sector. The integration of a pharmacist into a general practice medical centre is not a new concept however is a novel approach in Australia and evidence supporting this role is currently limited. This study aimed to describe the opinions of local stakeholders in South-East Queensland on the integration of a pharmacist into the Australian general practice environment.MethodsA sample of general practitioners, health care consumers, pharmacists and practice managers in South-East Queensland were invited to participate in focus groups or semi-structured interviews. Seeding questions common to all sessions were used to facilitate discussion. Sessions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Leximancer software was used to qualitatively analyse responses.ResultsA total of 58 participants took part in five focus groups and eighteen semi-structured interviews. Concepts relating to six themes based on the seeding questions were identified. These included positively viewed roles such as medication reviews and prescribing, negatively viewed roles such as dispensing and diagnosing, barriers to pharmacist integration such as medical culture and remuneration, facilitators to pharmacist integration such as remuneration and training, benefits of integration such as access to the patient’s medical file, and potential funding models.ConclusionsThese findings and future research may aid the development of a new model of integrated primary health care services involving pharmacist practitioners.

The necessity-concerns framework predicts adherence to medication in multiple illness conditions: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE This meta-analysis investigated whether beliefs in the necessity and concerns of medicine and the necessity-concerns differential are correlated with medication adherence on a population level and in different conditions. METHODS An electronic search of Web of Science, EMBASE, PubMed and CINAHL was conducted for manuscripts utilising the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire and comparing it to any measure of medication adherence. Studies were pooled using the random-effects model to produce a mean overall effect size correlation. Studies were stratified for condition, adherence measure, power and study design. RESULTS Ninety-four papers were included in the meta-analysis. The overall effect size(r) for necessity, concerns, and necessity-concerns differential was 0.17, -0.18 and 0.24 respectively and these were all significant (p<0.0001). Effect size for necessity was stronger in asthma and weaker in the cardiovascular group compared to the overall effect size. CONCLUSION Necessity and concerns beliefs and the necessity-concerns differential were correlated with medication adherence on a population level and across the majority of included conditions. The effect sizes were mostly small with a magnitude comparable to other predictors of adherence. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS This meta-analysis suggests that necessity and concern beliefs about medicines are one important factor to consider when understanding reasons for non-adherence.

Do risk factors for lactic acidosis influence dosing of metformin

Background:  Metformin is commonly prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, however it is associated with the potentially lethal condition of lactic acidosis. Prescribing guidelines have been developed to minimize the risk of lactic acidosis development, although some suggest they are inappropriate and have created confusion amongst prescribers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether metformin dose was influenced by the presence of risk factors for lactic acidosis.

Validated adherence scales used in a measurement-guided medication management approach to target and tailor a medication adherence intervention: a randomised controlled trial

Objective To determine if a targeted and tailored intervention based on a discussion informed by validated adherence scales will improve medication adherence. Design Prospective randomised trial. Setting 2 community pharmacies in Brisbane, Australia. Methods Patients recently initiated on a cardiovascular or oral hypoglycaemic medication within the past 4–12 weeks were recruited from two community pharmacies. Participants identified as non-adherent using the Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ) were randomised into the intervention or control group. The intervention group received a tailored intervention based on a discussion informed by responses to the MAQ, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire-Specific and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Adherence was measured using the MAQ at 3 and 6 months following the intervention. Results A total of 408 patients were assessed for eligibility, from which 152 participants were enrolled into the study. 120 participants were identified as non-adherent using the MAQ and randomised to the ‘intervention’ or ‘control’ group. The mean MAQ score at baseline in the intervention and control were similar (1.58: 95% CI (1.38 to 1.78) and 1.60: 95% CI (1.43 to 1.77), respectively). There was a statistically significant improvement in adherence in the intervention group compared to control at 3 months (mean MAQ score 0.42: 95% CI (0.27 to 0.57) vs 1.58: 95% CI (1.42 to 1.75); p<0.001). The significant improvement in MAQ score in the intervention group compared to control was sustained at 6 months (0.48: 95% CI (0.31 to 0.65) vs 1.48: 95% CI (1.27 to 1.69); p<0.001). Conclusions An intervention that targeted non-adherent participants and tailored to participant-specific reasons for non-adherence was successful at improving medication adherence. Trial registration number ACTRN12613000162718; Results.

Systematic review of predictive risk models for adverse drug events in hospitalized patients

An emerging approach to reducing hospital adverse drug events is the use of predictive risk scores. The aim of this systematic review was to critically appraise models developed for predicting adverse drug event risk in inpatients.

The effect of pharmacists on ward rounds measured by the STOPP/START tool in a specialized geriatric unit

The STOPP/START tool has been validated to assess elderly patients for potentially inappropriate prescribing. This study aimed to assess the effect of inclusion of a pharmacist on a physician‐led ward round on potentially inappropriate prescribing in hospitalized elderly patients.

Reducing Medical Admissions into Hospital through Optimising Medicines (REMAIN HOME) Study: protocol for a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised trial

Introduction A model of general practitioner (GP) and pharmacist collaboration in primary care may be an effective strategy to reduce medication-related problems and provide better support to patients after discharge. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a model of structured pharmacist and GP care reduces hospital readmissions in high-risk patients. Methods and analysis This protocol details a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised trial that will recruit participants over 9 months with a 12-month follow-up. There will be 14 clusters each representing a different general practice medical centre. A total of 2240 participants will be recruited from hospital who attend an enrolled medical centre, take five or more long-term medicines or whose reason for admission was related to heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The intervention is a multifaceted service, involving a pharmacist integrated into a medical centre to assist patients after hospitalisation. Participants will meet with the practice pharmacist and their GP after discharge to review and reconcile their medicines and discuss changes made in hospital. The pharmacist will follow-up with the participant and liaise with other health professionals involved in the participant’s care. The control will be usual care, which usually involves a patient self-organising a visit to their GP after hospital discharge. The primary outcome is the rate of unplanned, all-cause hospital readmissions over 12 months, which will be analysed using a mixed effects Poisson regression model with a random effect for cluster and a fixed effect to account for any temporal trend. A cost analysis will be undertaken to compare the healthcare costs associated with the intervention to those of usual care. Ethics and dissemination The study has received ethical approval (HREC/16/QRBW/410). The study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conferences and reports to key stakeholders. Trial registration number ACTRN12616001627448

A Conversation About Stroke Medications: Using Patient Perceptions to Personalise Educational Messages

Annual Conference of the Asia Pacific Stroke Organization (APSO) Combined with Stroke Society of Australasia, Brisbane, Qld, Australia, July 14-17, 2016Annual Conference of the Asia Pacific Stroke Organization (APSO) Combined with Stroke Society of Australasia, Brisbane, Qld, Australia, July 14-17, 2016

Discrepancies in the use of medications in patients with cirrhosis

Individuals with decompensated cirrhosis and ascites requiring paracentesis utilize exceptionally high levels of hospital resources. Consequently, potential modifications to existing models of healthcare to assist patients in the management of their liver disease and reduce the need for hospital encounters have potential to improve patients’ health and reduce demand on acute hospital services. However, there is a paucity of data examining how much healthcare resources could be re-directed to interventions that prevent hospitalizations without net annual budgetary disadvantage (from the hospital’s perspective). The purpose of this study was to probabilistically examine how much healthcare resourcing could be saved per hospital presentation avoided among this clinical population.