Medication review in the elderly: how competent are community pharmacists in detecting drug-related problems?

Poster presented at the 5th PCNE Working Symposium 2016: “Work in Progress – Progress in Work”, 19-20 February 2016, Hillerød, Denmark.

A national e-Delphi towards the measurement of safe medication practices in Portuguese hospitals

Objectives To determine the face and content validity of items for measuring safe medication practices in Portuguese hospitals. Methods 128 items were drafted from content analysis of existing questionnaires and the literature, employing preferred terms of the WHO International Classification for Patient Safety (Portuguese version). A two-round e-Delphi was convened, using a purposive multidisciplinary panel. Hospital-based experts were asked to rate the relevance of items on a 7-point Likert scale and to comment on their clarity and completeness. Results The response rate was similar in both rounds (70.3% and 73.4%, respectively). In the first round 91/128 (71.1%) items reached the predefined level of positive consensus. In the second round 23 additional items reached positive consensus, as well as seven items newly derived by the panel. Conclusions Most items have face and content validity, indicating relevance and clarity, and can be included in a future questionnaire for measuring safe medication practices in Portuguese hospitals.

The Impact of a Substance Abuse Treatment for Offenders in Relation to the Time Spent in Treatment

The objective of this research is to evaluate the outcomes of a treatment for addicts. 123 subjects were tested before treatment and at 5, 8 and 11 months follow-up periods with a French version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Exposure to treatment was based on the number of clients’ contact-hours with a therapist. The sample was divided into three groups according to the number of hours spent in treatment. The data was analysed using MANOVA on the seven scales of the ASI for the three groups and the four time periods. Results showed that all groups improved significantly but that this improvement was not related to the number of hours spent in treatment.

Virtual car accidents of epilepsy patients, interictal epileptic activity, and medication.

OBJECTIVE To investigate effects of interictal epileptic activity (IEA) and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on reactivity and aspects of the fitness to drive for epilepsy patients. METHODS Forty-six adult patients with demonstration of focal or generalized bursts of IEA in electroencephalography (EEG) readings within 1 year prior to inclusion irrespective of medication performed a car driving computer test or a single light flash test (39 patients performed both). Reaction times (RTs), virtual crashes, or lapses (RT ≥ 1 s in the car or flash test) were measured in an IEA burst-triggered fashion during IEA and compared with RT-measurements during unremarkable EEG findings in the same session. RESULTS IEA prolonged RTs both in the flash and car test (p < 0.001) in individual patients up to 200 ms. Generalized IEA with spike/waves (s/w) had the largest effect on RT prolongation (p < 0.001, both tests), whereas mean RT during normal EEG, age, gender, and number of AEDs had no effect. The car test was better than the flash test in detecting RT prolongations (p = 0.030). IEA increased crashes/lapses >26% in sessions with generalized IEA with s/w. The frequency of IEA-associated RT >1 s exceeded predictions (p < 0.001) based on simple RT shift, suggesting functional impairment beyond progressive RT prolongation by IEA. The number of AEDs correlated with prolonged RTs during normal EEG (p < 0.021) but not with IEA-associated RT prolongation or crashes/lapses. SIGNIFICANCE IEA prolonged RTs to varying extents, dependent on IEA type. IEA-associated RTs >1 s were more frequent than predicted, suggesting beginning cerebral decompensation of visual stimulus processing. AEDs somewhat reduced psychomotor speed, but it was mainly the IEA that contributed to an excess of virtual accidents.

A Guide to multicultural drug abuse prevention.

Description based on 2.

Multicultural perspectives on drug abuse and its prevention : a resource book /

Includes bibliographies.

Proceedings of the National Hispanic Conference on Alcoholism, sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, September 7-10, 1980, San Antonio, Texas.

Cover title: Alcoholism and the Hispanic, a mutual concern.

Research and intervention : preventing substance abuse in higher education /

"FIRST 94-7001"--P. [4] of cover.

The development and implementation of a new data collection instrument for the 1994 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse /

"April 1996"--T.p. verso.

Alcohol and drug abuse in medical education /

"Proceedings of the National Conference on Medical Education in Alcohol and Drug Abuse, jointly sponsored by the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and the Career Teacher Program in Alcohol and Drug Abuse (ADAMHA) November 5-6, 1977, Washington, D.C.": p. 75-131.

CSAP, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Mode of access: Internet.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Mode of access: Internet.