Drug-Related Problems and Recommendations Made during Home Medicines Reviews for Sick Day Medication Management in Australia.

Backgrounds and Objectives: Using certain medications during an intercurrent illness can increase the risk of drug related problems (DRP) occurring such as acute kidney injury (AKI). Medications that increase this risk include sulfonylureas, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, metformin, angiotensin receptor blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories drugs, and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SADMANS). Sick day medication guidance (SDMG) recommends withholding SADMANS medications during an intercurrent illness where adequate fluid intake cannot be maintained. But uptake of these recommendations is poor, and it is not known whether Australian pharmacists currently provide these recommendations during home medicine reviews (HMR) as per SDMG. We aimed to gain an understanding of the characteristics of DRP identified by pharmacists during HMR, especially those relating to SADMANS medications. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective audit of 201 randomly selected HMR reports, conducted by accredited pharmacists from 2020 to 2022, that were analysed in 2023. All DRP and recommendations were categorised using a modified DOCUMENT system. Results: Overall, over 98% of participants experienced a DRP and a total of 710 DRP were found, where participants experienced an average of 4.0 ± 2.0 DRP each. Non-SADMANS medications accounted for 83.1% of all DRPs, with nervous system medications contributing the most. Common problems seen in non-SADMANS medications were related to toxicity, over/underdosing and undertreating. Diuretics contributed most to DRP in SADMANS medications. Problems with SADMANS were mainly related to toxicity and contraindications. No pharmacists provided SDMG despite 71.1% of participants using at least one SADMANS medication. Conclusions: We conclude that DRP remain prevalent in community pharmacy settings. Sick day recommendations were not provided in the HMRs included in our study, possibly due to lack of pharmacist knowledge and awareness. To ensure best practice, more research should be conducted to determine pharmacists' knowledge of and barriers to provision of sick day recommendations.

Drug-Related Problems and Sick Day Management Considerations for Medications that Contribute to the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury.

BACKGROUND: Medication use during acute illness increases the risk of experiencing drug related problems (DRPs), including acute kidney injuries. It is recommended that potentially nephrotoxic medications are withheld during acute illness, including sulfonylureas, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, metformin, angiotensin receptor blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SADMANS). It is unknown if Australian pharmacists currently provide sick day medication management advice regarding SADMANS medications. Hence, we aimed to identify current DRPs and the recommendations made during residential medication management reviews (RMMRs), especially with SADMANS medications. METHODS: A retrospective review of 408 RMMRs was conducted. DRPs and pharmacist recommendations were classified according to a modified DOCUMENT system. General practitioners' (GP) recommendations were also categorised. RESULTS: Over 97% of residents experienced at least one DRP. Common problems for non-SADMANS medications were "toxicity or adverse drug reaction", "drug selection" and "over/underdosing" and those for SADMANS medications included "toxicity or adverse drug reaction", "monitoring" and "drug selection". GPs agreed with pharmacist recommendations approximately 40% of the time. No pharmacists provided sick day medication management advice for SADMANS medications. CONCLUSION: DRPs remain highly prevalent in aged care facilities. Medication reviews effectively identify and resolve DRPs approximately 40% of the time, but do not currently minimise the risk associated with using SADMANS medications during sick days, which is a potential area of improvement.

An overview of the COVID-19 complications in paediatric population: A pandemic dilemma.

AIM: The primary objective of this article is to understand the various complications caused by the coronavirus in the paediatric population. METHOD: An electronic search was conducted using PubMed and incorporated forward and backward research methods on clinical trials, case reports, case series, guidelines and reports from the centre for disease control and prevention (CDC), and the keywords included COVID-19, paediatrics, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), complications, acute kidney injury and heart failure. Secondary resources included one study from preprint servers (www.preprints.org), last search 8 May 2021, with notion of nonpeer review status. Data were collected and analysed to stay current with the most recent alerts and guidelines for the best care for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Evaluation and analysis of literature revealed MIS-C to be the most prevalent followed by neurological complications. Whereas the least prevalent were septic shock and ophthalmic complications. CONCLUSION: Even though COVID-19 is known to be a less severe in the paediatric population, the complications of the virus have caused a great deal of stress to the paediatric patients' parents and paediatricians worldwide, and hence, emphasis should be given to the management of coronavirus complications in paediatrics.