Exposure to anticholinergic and sedative medicines as indicators of high-risk prescriptions in the elderly.

Background There are several assessment scales to evaluate the risk of falls or the adverse drug reaction risk. Few are sufficiently specific to assess the impact of drug prescriptions on falls in geriatric populations. Objective To define the risk of anticholinergic and sedation-related ADRs in an elderly hospitalized patient population using the Drug Burden Index (DBI), Anticholinergic Drug Scale (ADS), and Sedative Load Model (SLM). Setting Five geriatric university hospital centers in France. Method Multicenter prospective cohort study from 2011 to 2013. Drug prescriptions were compiled to estimate anticholinergic and sedative exposure. Any associations between the drug scales and falls were assessed. Main outcome measure Drug exposure estimated with the DBI, ADS, and SLM scales. Results 315 patients, with a mean age of 87 years and 117 documented falls, were included from 5 geriatric hospitals. Sixty-one percent of these patients had a DBI > 0, 20.3% had an ADS ≥ 3, 56.2% a SLM > 0. No association was detected between the scores and the risk of a fall (p > 0.05). Factors significantly associated with a risk of a fall were: a prior history of a fall in the previous 12 months (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 7.24, 4.06-12.89), orthostatic hypotension ([aOR] = 2.84; 1.39-5.79), or prescription of antidepressants ([aOR] = 2.12; 1.17-3.84). Conclusion A specific scale to identify high-risk prescriptions would help clinicians and pharmacists to optimize therapeutic treatments for the elderly. In light of the multifactorial characteristics of falls, predicting their risk should be based on a well-defined set of factors.

A multi-center, randomized, controlled trial to assess the efficacy of optimization of drug prescribing in an elderly population, at 18 months of follow-up, in the evolution of functional autonomy: the OPTIM study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacotherapy is necessary for the management of many diseases which number increased with aging. However, potentially inappropriate prescriptions and polymedication increases iatrogenic risks and can lead to adverse events. To limit the consequences of potentially harmful prescriptions, optimization of drug prescribing is a major stake of improving quality and safety of care in the elderly. The purpose of the OPTIM study is to study the impact of the optimization of drug prescribing on the evolution of functional autonomy at 18 months of follow-up. METHODS: A multicenter, open-label, Randomized Controlled Trial was designed to assess the impact of an optimization program of drug prescribing consisting in a clinical medication review by a pharmacist, in collaboration with specialist physician of the geriatric/memory center and the referent physician, on the evolution of functional autonomy level, measured during 18 months of follow-up. The study will include 302 elderly outpatients visiting geriatric and memory centers, randomly distributed in one of the two parallel groups. One group will benefit of the intervention, while the other will be considered as control group. The effect of the intervention on evolution of the level of autonomy function, defined with repeated measures, will be estimated in a generalized linear mixed model. The intervention will be considered significant if the interaction between time and the study group is significant. Secondary analysis will be conducted to assess the impact of the intervention on secondary clinical outcomes. DISCUSSION: The "OPTIM" program should enable optimization of drug prescribing in elderly patients and therefore slow or prevent progression to loss of functional autonomy. It should also help to strengthen collaboration between the hospital team of geriatric/neurologist, the pharmacist and the private practice who are all involved in caring for the patient's health. The benefits for the patient are thus optimizing its medical management by linking health professionals met during his care pathway. In addition, pharmaceutical recommendations sent to referent physicians should help raise awareness of the prescription of drugs in these patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER CLINICALTRIALS: NCT02740764.

[Prescription of acetaminophen in five French hospitals: What are the practices?] / Prescription du paracétamol dans cinq centres hospitaliers français : quelles sont les pratiques ?

AIM: Acetaminophen is widely used in hospital settings and often considered as nontoxic. We conducted a multicentric study in order to evaluate its proper use. METHOD: Prescriptions from five general hospitals were analyzed, according to dose adjustments required in renal or liver failure, weight or chronic alcoholism, determined using a literature review. Other criteria have been assessed: indication for parenteral access, accuracy of administration time and pain assessment. RESULTS: Among the 1256 analyzed prescriptions, 21% are non-compliants. The main causes of non-compliance (NC) are adjustments to weight and renal failure. Higher NC rates concern chronic alcoholism and liver failure. CONCLUSION: Misuse of acetaminophen seems related to a lack of official recommendations concerning dose adjustments. Hospital pharmacists have an important role to play in the promotion of proper use of acetaminophen. Therefore we established a prescribing aid.

A Prediction Model of Drug Exposure in Cirrhotic Patients According to Child-Pugh Classification.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Prediction of drug clearance in liver cirrhosis patients is currently based on in vitro-in vivo extrapolation and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models. No static model for this purpose has been described. The objectives of this study were to (1) derive a static model for predicting drug exposure in cirrhotic patients, and (2) to evaluate the model on a large set of published data. METHODS: The impact of cirrhosis was characterized by the ratio of the total and unbound drug area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) in cirrhotic patients to the AUC measured in healthy subjects These ratios were predicted for Child-Pugh classes A, B, and C. The AUC ratios observed in published data were compared with AUC ratios predicted by the model. RESULTS: Among 171 drugs examined, 83 published AUC ratios for 45 drugs in cirrhotic patients were available for analysis. The mean ± standard deviation relative prediction error for the total and unbound AUC ratios was 0.22 ± 0.58 and 0.24 ± 0.56, respectively. There were four outliers among the 83 predicted values. Simulations showed that the prediction error was negligible provided that the hepatic extraction coefficient was less than 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: For mild and moderate cirrhosis (classes A and B), the predicted unbound AUC ratio is typically approximately 2 and 3.5, respectively, for most drugs. In the absence of data in cirrhotic patients, the drug dose might be empirically reduced by these factors. In severe cirrhosis (class C), our model may help clinicians to adjust their prescriptions.

[Dysthyroidism with anti-VEGF treatment, a class effect? about one case report]. / Dysthyroidie sous anti-VEGF, effet indésirable de classe ? à propos d'un cas.

Tyrosine-kinase inhibitors are recent therapy used in different neoplastic diseases. Dysthyroidism seems to be a class effect of these drugs with a potentially cross cumulative effect. We describe here the case of a man who first developed dysthyroidism with sunitinib, then a deep and permanent hypothyroidism when axitinib was introduced.