Analgesic switching in chronic users of dextropropoxyphene in France.

BACKGROUND: The combination dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol (DXP/P) was the most prescribed opioid analgesic until its withdrawal in 2011. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated dispensations of analgesics in chronic users of DXP/P during the 18 months following its withdrawal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study repeated yearly was conducted by using the French reimbursement database from 2006 to 2015. Chronic DXP/P users were defined as patients who received at least 40 boxes of DXP/P in the year prior to withdrawal. Data on analgesic dispensing were analyzed at DXP/P withdrawal (T0) and then every 6 months for 18 months. RESULTS: A total of 63 671 subjects had a DXP/P reimbursement in the year prior to its discontinuation, of whom 7.1% were identified as chronic users (mean age: 71.5 years, women: 68.7%). Among the patients taking DXP/P alone at T0 (74.6%), one fourth switched to a peripheral analgesic, one fourth to a combination of peripheral analgesic/opioid, one fourth to another opioid, and the others mainly discontinued their treatment (14.1%) or died. During the following 12 months, most of the subjects taking only peripheral analgesics continued this treatment, while half of the subjects with a combination of opioid/peripheral analgesic or taking only an analgesic remained on this type of treatment. CONCLUSION: Eighteen months after DXP/P withdrawal, more than 10% of patients stopped taking an analgesic. Vigilance is required regarding any change in analgesics by regularly reassessing patients' pain and, in the case of opioid treatments, by monitoring the risk of use disorders.

[Triage risk screening tool (TRST) in screening elderly patients requiring the intervention of a mobile geriatric team: results of a pilot study]. / Évaluation du Triage risk screening tool (TRST) pour le dépistage des personnes âgées nécessitant l'intervention d'une équipe mobile de gériatrie dans les établissements de santé: résultats d'une étude pilote.

Improving care and health course for hospitalized elderly patients is one of the tasks set out in the "Rapport du parcours de santé des PAERPA" (elderly people with or at risk of functional decline). Identification of the needs of a mobile geriatric team (MGT) intervention for the patients remain difficult in emergency department and in medical surgical units. A screening tool is needed and should be simple and fast to use. Its implementation implies that it is efficient and previously validated. The aim of our study was to evaluate the validity and predictive performances of the Triage risk stratification tool (TRST) for identify patients aged over 75 years, requiring the intervention of the MGT. This is a prospective, national, multicenter study including consecutive patients aged 75 years and older, hospitalized in emergency services and medical-surgical units in September and October 2013. The TRST was considered positive when the score was greater than 2 of 5 points. A supplementary question with binary answer (yes/no) was asked to MGT, in order to define if MGT intervention was useful. This issue has served as a "gold standard" for assessing the validity and predictive test performance. In emergency departments, the TRST was performed in 427 patients, 347 were positive. Results showed high sensitivity (79%), and poor specificity (19%) of the test in emergency units, showing that TRST did not permit to identify patients requiring MGT intervention. In contrast, the TRST seems more performant in medical-surgical (n=63 patients) units with good predictive performances (positive predictive value 90% and negative predictive value 87%). The specificity of TRST in emergency services is insufficient to generalize its use. However, performances of the TRST in other units are encouraging to propose a validation as part of a national research project.

[Patients with severe dementia living at home]. / La personne démente à domicile.

Few studies have been devoted to patients with severe dementia living at home. Therefore their rate is difficult to evaluate, and their conditions too heterogeneous to allow a standard management. In these patients, suffering from severe cognitive deficits and psychobehavioral disturbances, interfering pathologies may alter the course of the disease. Environment must be adapted to ensure security, sustain perceptual and physical activity and back up space and time orientation. The role of the main caregiver is crucial for the psychological and physical support of the patient. Thus, he/she must be sustained by giving information about the disease and available practical and financial support, and by listening to his/her suffering. Consequently, the general practitioner is involved not only in medical decisions but also in family support. Too often, the general practitioner is alone to face complex and time-consuming situations. However, the setting of geriatric networks should allow him/her to be included in the elaboration of a global care project with nurses and physiotherapists. Nevertheless, various factors, such as caregivers' exhaustion, major behavioral disorders, or the end of life when coping with pain becomes a priority, can eventually make necessary the patient's transfer into a geriatric facility.