Shane Cullinan

Use of a frailty index to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing and adverse drug reaction risks in older patients

BACKGROUND potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) is a significant problem in health care today. We hypothesise that if doctors were given a single indicator of PIP and adverse drug reaction (ADR) risk on a patients prescription, it might stimulate them to review the medicines. We suggest that a frailty index (FI) score may be such a suitable indicator. OBJECTIVES to determine whether a positive relationship exists between a patients frailty status, the appropriateness of their medications and their propensity to develop ADRs. Compare this to just using the number of medications a patient takes as an indicator of PIP/ADR risk. SETTING AND METHOD a frailty index was constructed and applied to a patient database. The associations between a patients FI score, the number of instances of PIP on their prescription and their likelihood of developing an ADR were determined using Pearson correlation tests and χ(2) tests. RESULTS significant correlation between FI score instances of PIP was shown (R = 0.92). The mean FI score above which patients experienced at least one instance of PIP was 0.16. Patients above this threshold were twice as likely to experience PIP (OR = 2.6, P < 0.0001) and twice as likely to develop an ADR (OR = 2.1, P < 0.0001). Patients taking more than six medications were 3 times more likely to experience PIP. CONCLUSION an FI score is a potentially relevant clinical indicator for doctors to critically assess a patients prescription for the presence of PIP and ultimately prevent ADRs, especially when used in tandem with the number of medications a patient takes.

Antibiotic prescribing in long-term care facilities: a qualitative, multidisciplinary investigation.

Objectives To explore healthcare professionals’ views of antibiotic prescribing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). To use the findings to recommend intervention strategies for antimicrobial stewardship in LTCFs. Design Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted. The data were analysed by thematic content analysis. After the interviews, the emerging findings were mapped to the theoretical domains framework (TDF), and the behaviour change wheel and behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy were used to recommend future intervention strategies. Participants Interviews were conducted with 37 healthcare professionals who work in LTCFs (10 general practitioners, 4 consultants, 14 nurses, 9 pharmacists) between December 2012 and March 2013. Setting Interviews were conducted in the greater Cork region. Results The main domains from the TDF which emerged were: ‘Knowledge’, ‘Environmental context and resources’, ‘Social influences’, ‘Beliefs about consequences’, ‘Memory, attention and decision making’, with the findings identifying a need for ‘Behavioural regulation’. Many participants believed that antibiotic prescribing was satisfactory at their LTCF, despite the lack of surveillance activities. Conclusions This study, using the TDF and BCT taxonomy, has found that antibiotic prescribing in LTCFs is influenced by many social and contextual factors. The challenges of the setting and patient population, the belief about consequences to the patient, and the lack of implementation of guidelines and knowledge regarding antibiotic prescribing patterns are significant challenges to address. On the basis of the study findings and the application of the TDF and BCT taxonomy, we suggest some practical intervention functions for antimicrobial stewardship in LTCFs.

Antibiotic Prescribing in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Research

ObjectivesThe objective of this review was to synthesize the findings of qualitative studies investigating the factors influencing antibiotic prescribing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). These findings will inform the development of future antimicrobial stewardship strategies (AMS) in this setting.MethodsWe searched Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, Social Science Citations Index and Google Scholar for all qualitative studies investigating health care professionals’ views on antibiotic prescribing in LTCFs. The quality of the papers was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) assessment tool for qualitative research. Thematic synthesis was used to integrate the emergent themes into an overall analytical theme.ResultsThe synthesis of eight qualitative studies indicated that health care professionals and administrators have identified factors that influence antibiotic prescribing in LTCFs. These factors include variations in knowledge and practice among health care professionals, and the LTCF context, which is unique given the complex patient population and restricted access to doctors and diagnostic tests. The social factors underpinning the interaction between nurses, residents’ families and doctors also influence decision making around antibiotic prescribing. The study also found that there is an acknowledged need for collaborative, evidence-based AMS specific to LTCFs, as antibiotic prescribing is heavily influenced by factors unique to this setting.ConclusionThis review highlighted the key contextual challenges for AMS in LTCFs. The findings provide an in-depth insight into the factors—such as the LTCF context, social factors, variability in knowledge and prescribing practices, and antimicrobial resistance—that impact on antibiotic prescribing and AMS strategies. These factors must be considered in order to ensure the feasibility and applicability of future AMS interventions.

Challenges of deprescribing in the multimorbid patient

Older patients often have multimorbidity, frequently resulting in polypharmacy. Independently, multimorbidity and polypharmacy are among the biggest risk factors for inappropriate medication, adverse drug reactions, adverse drug events and morbidity, leading to patient harm and hospitalisations. After a medication review, discontinuation of medication or deprescribing is one of the most common recommendations but is likely to be ignored. The deprescribing process includes some or all of the following elements: a review of current medications, identification of medications to be discontinued, a discontinuation regimen, involvement of patients and a review with follow-up. In addition to the complexity presented by prescribing or deprescribing for older multimorbid patients, other factors act as barriers to discontinuation of medications in these patients; these include interprofessional relationships, difficulties with medication reviews, deficiencies in knowledge and evidence and patients’ preferences/resistance to change. These challenges are compounded by the need to manage the shared treatment of multiple conditions by several prescribers from different specialties based on disease-specific guidelines without evidence of effects on the older, frailer, multimorbid patients. The interdisciplinary effort in the treatment of such patients needs to improve to ensure that we treat the patient holistically and not just the individual conditions of the multimorbid patient, according to guidelines. We must first, however, equip prescribers to identify instances where deprescribing is appropriate and then make the necessary changes to pharmacotherapy.

Development of a core outcome set for medication review in older patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy: a study protocol

Background Medication review has been advocated to address the challenge of polypharmacy in older patients, yet there is no consensus on how best to evaluate its efficacy. Heterogeneity of outcomes reported in clinical trials can hinder the comparison of clinical trial findings in systematic reviews. Moreover, the outcomes that matter most to older patients might be under-reported or disregarded altogether. A core outcome set can address this issue as it defines a minimum set of outcomes that should be reported in all clinical trials in any particular field of research. As part of the European Commission-funded project, called OPtimising thERapy to prevent Avoidable hospital admissions in the Multimorbid elderly, this paper describes the methods used to develop a core outcome set for clinical trials of medication review in older patients with multimorbidity. Methods/design The study was designed in several steps. First, a systematic review established which outcomes were measured in published and ongoing clinical trials of medication review in older patients. Second, we undertook semistructured interviews with older patients and carers aimed at identifying additional relevant outcomes. Then, a multilanguage European Delphi survey adapted to older patients was designed. The international Delphi survey was conducted with older patients, health care professionals, researchers, and clinical experts in geriatric pharmacotherapy to validate outcomes to be included in the core outcome set. Consensus meetings were conducted to validate the results. Discussion We present the method for developing a core outcome set for medication review in older patients with multimorbidity. This study protocol could be used as a basis to develop core outcome sets in other fields of geriatric research.

Development of a Standardized Chart Review Method to Identify Drug-Related Hospital Admissions in Older People.

We aimed to develop a standardized chart review method to identify drug‐related hospital admissions (DRA) in older people caused by non‐preventable adverse drug reactions and preventable medication errors including overuse, underuse and misuse of medications: the DRA adjudication guide.