Medication errors, drug related problems and patient safety Patient safety is arguably the most important issue facing pharmacy practice today. In this issue of the Translator the prevalence and incidence of drug related morbidities is examined, and possible solutions and the impact of medication reconciliation are discussed. ■ Seventy percent of hospitalizations for drug-related causes are dee...

BACKGROUND Over-the-counter-medication (OTC-medication) use during pregnancy can be potentially harmful for the fetus. To successfully counsel the patient it is important to know if the patient is at risk. In this study possible predictors for OTC-medication use were identified and a model was designed to predict OTC-medication use during pregnancy. METHODS We performed a post-hoc analysis on...

AIMS The aims of this paper are to examine the relationship between psychological trauma symptoms and Type 2 diabetes prevalence, glucose control, and treatment modality among 3776 American Indians in Phase V of the Strong Heart Family Study. METHODS This cross-sectional analysis measured psychological trauma symptoms using the National Anxiety Disorder Screening Day instrument, diabetes by A...

Objective The objective was to report academic stress and prevalence of stress-related self-medication among undergraduate female students of health and nonhealth cluster colleges at a public sector university in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods A 5-month cross-sectional survey was conducted in the university. The survey included the English version of 10-item Perceived Stress Scal...

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of suboptimal medication-related processes of care before the hospitalisation of older patients. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a clinical indicator set related to medication management that has been validated by an expert panel as consisting of suboptimal aspects of medication use that clinicians should be able to forese...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of medicine use among high school students (14-18 years old) living in an urban area in Southern Brazil and the proportion who self-medicate and to explore the association between medicine use and demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral variables. METHODS A school-based survey was conducted among high school students in the city of Maringá/PR, Brazil in...

PURPOSE Medication errors (MEs) are a major factor limiting the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological therapies in critically ill patients. The purpose was to determine if a preventive interventions program (PIP) is associated with a significant reduction on prevalence of patients with MEs in intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS A prospective before-after study was conducted in a random s...

Despite widespread agreement that nursing homes' use of antipsychotic medications for residents without specific psychiatric diagnoses is a marker of poor quality of care, prevalence remains high. Additionally, variation suggests continued opportunity to improve care even in countries, like the United States, that have long-standing policies designed to decrease antipsychotic medication use. In...

The percentage of the population described as elderly is growing, and a higher prevalence of multiple, chronic disease states must be managed concurrently. Healthcare practitioners must appropriately use medication for multiple diseases and avoid risks often associated with multiple medication use such as adverse effects, drug/drug interactions, drug/disease interactions, and inappropriate dosi...

BACKGROUND Many studies that show improved health in older adults have relied on subjective measures of health. This article assesses changes in the physiological status of older Americans during the 1990s using biological measures of high-risk for morbidity and mortality. METHODS Changes in the prevalence of clinically-defined, high risk for 10 biological markers were assessed in respondents...