ABSTRACT
Little is known about drug knowledge of patients, which is relevant for both the compliance and quality of pharmacotherapy. Drug knowledge was quantified in 160 patients in the outpatient clinics of the departments of Internal and Geriatric Medicine. Medication knowledge was generally poor, especially among older patients. Better knowledge was associated with the use of fewer drugs. Caregivers of dementia patients performed as well as younger patients, indicating that older people can perform well, if well-instructed.
Subject(s)
Caregivers/statistics & numerical data , Drug Therapy , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Outpatients/statistics & numerical data , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cross-Sectional Studies , Dementia/drug therapy , Dementia/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Internal Medicine , Male , Middle Aged , Netherlands/epidemiology , Patient Compliance , Patient Education as Topic , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The close analogy between cluster percolation and string proliferation in the context of critical phenomena is studied. Like clusters in percolation theory, closed strings, which can be either finite-temperature worldlines or topological line defects, are described by a distribution parametrized by only two exponents. On approaching the critical point, the string tension vanishes and the loops proliferate, thereby signalling the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation (in the case of worldlines) or the disordering of the ordered state (in the case of vortices). The ideal Bose gas with modified energy spectrum is used as a stepping stone to derive general expressions for the critical exponents in terms of the two exponents parametrizing the loop distribution near criticality.
