Adherence to hospital discharge medication in patients with ischemic stroke: a prospective, interventional 2-phase study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Communication between hospitals and primary care physicians is essential for the continuity of care for patients being transferred from hospital to ambulatory care. Patients are often discharged from hospital on medication regimes different from those used before hospital admission. The aim of the study was to evaluate the adherence to hospital discharge medication in patients with ischemic stroke before and after implementing a systematic approach provided by a clinical pharmacist. METHODS: Patients with transient ischemic attack/ischemic stroke taking ≥ 2 drugs during hospital stay and at discharge were prospectively recruited. In the control group, the neurologist included the medication list in the discharge letter as before. In the intervention group, the clinical pharmacist listed the medication on admission and at discharge next to each other and gave detailed information for all medication changes during hospital stay. RESULTS: Overall, 312 patients were enrolled in the study with 156 patients in each group. Significant differences between the control group and intervention group were ascertained with regard to adherence to both antithrombotic drugs (83.8% control group versus 91.9% intervention group [P=0.033]) and to statin therapy (69.8% control group versus 87.7% intervention group [P<0.001]). CONCLUSIONS: Providing detailed information on medication changes can lead to substantially improved adherence to discharge medication, probably resulting in better secondary stroke prevention.

Drug-related problems in patients with ischemic stroke in hospital.

BACKGROUND: Drug therapy is getting more complex, thus making it more challenging to prescribe appropriate drug therapy. Accordingly, in clinical practice, a wide range of drug-related problems (DRP) may arise; they are relatively common in hospitalised patients and can result in patient morbidity and mortality, and increased costs. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate the nature and frequency of DRPs along with pharmaceutical interventions to address them in patients with ischemic stroke from hospital admission to discharge. METHOD: From January to June 2011 patients with ischemic stroke, who were taking >2 drugs during hospital stay and at discharge, were recruited. A clinical pharmacist performed medication reconciliation on admission, and checked the medication records during the hospital stay regularly. DRPs were categorized by APS-Doc. Results In total, DRPs occurred in 105/155 (67.7 %) patients: Overall 271 DRPs were documented, with a mean of 1.8 ± 2.0 DRPs per patient. The DRPs occurred mainly in the categories "drug", "indication", and "dosage". CONCLUSION: In conclusion, DRPs are relatively common in hospitalised patients and may occur at any part of the prescribing process. The clinical pharmacist can provide a valuable contribution in the multidisciplinary team to an optimized pharmacotherapy in patients with ischemic stroke.

Pharmaceutical care for patients with ischemic stroke: improving the patients quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: To improve patients health-related quality of life (HQL) after transient ischemic attack (TIA) or ischemic stroke; to guarantee an effective secondary prevention; to increase the patient's satisfaction with recommendations regarding their medication by pharmacists. SETTING: Stroke Unit, neurological ward at the Klinikum Fulda, rehabilitation hospitals and community-based pharmacies in the region of Fulda, Germany. METHOD: Patients with TIA or ischemic stroke were included. The patients were assigned to an intervention group (IG) or a control group (CG). The individual assignment of patients to IG or CG was based on the type of the local pharmacy to which patients belong. Community-based pharmacies either delivered standard care (CG) or provided additional intensified pharmaceutical care (PC; IG). Pharmacies delivering PC belong to a pre-existing "Quality Assurance Working Group" (QAWG). To evaluate the patient's HQL, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used at study entry in hospital and at 12 months. The secondary prevention was documented at study entry in hospital and at 12 months. The patients' satisfaction was measured by a questionnaire at the end of the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients' HQL; secondary prevention; patients' satisfaction with recommendations of the pharmacists with regards to their medication. RESULTS: Out of 1316 patients screened for participation in this study, 255 were recruited with 90/255 patients assigned to the IG and 165/255 patients assigned to the CG. During the study, the HQL of the patients in the IG did not change significantly. A significant decrease in the HQL was observed for the CG in 7/8 subscales and in both summary measures of the SF-36. After 12 months, 85.3% of the patients in the IG and 86.3% of the patients in the CG were treated with antiplatelet drugs or oral anticoagulants in accordance to treatment guidelines. Patients in the IG were significantly more satisfied with the individualized recommendations of the pharmacists than patients in the CG. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that an intensified PC of patients after ischemic stroke by dedicated pharmacists may have a positive impact on HQL and patients' satisfaction. PC in this study had no impact on adherence to secondary prevention medication.

[Pharmaceutical care for a patient with ischemic stroke]. / Pharmazeutische Betreuung eines Patienten mit zerebraler Ischämie im stationären Bereich.

A 61-year-old patient with a sudden numbness of the right arm and hand and signs of amnestic aphasia is admitted to the stroke unit with the diagnosis of an acute ischemic stroke for systemic thrombolysis. Based on a case-report, drug-related problems are discussed according to the SOAP scheme. Aspects of pharmaceutical care such as counselling by a pharmacist about secondary prevention, discharge information and a pharmaceutical care plan in the community pharmacy are described.