The American journal of geriatric pharmacotherapy
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Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · Apr 2010
Case ReportsSeparate episodes of delirium associated with levetiracetam and amiodarone treatment in an elderly woman.
Delirium related to levetiracetam has not been previously described in the literature and is infrequently associated with amiodarone. ⋯ This case report describes separate episodes of delirium probably related to treatment with levetiracetam and amiodarone in an elderly patient.
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Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · Apr 2010
Inpatient medication reconciliation at admission and discharge: A retrospective cohort study of age and other risk factors for medication discrepancies.
Medication discrepancies are unintended differences between medication regimens (ie, between a patient's home regimen and medications prescribed on admission to the hospital). ⋯ Medication discrepancies on admission and medication differences at discharge were prevalent for adult patients admitted to the general medicine, cardiology, and general surgery services in this academic teaching hospital. Medication reconciliation processes have a high potential to identify clinically important discrepancies for all patients.
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Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · Apr 2010
Assessment of a safety enhancement to the hospital medication reconciliation process for elderly patients.
Medication history taking is important because clinicians rely on the information that is collected; however, medication histories are often inaccurate and incomplete. The use of a medication at home without a corresponding disease or condition in the patient's records (ie, "unspecified" medication) warrants investigation of the need for that medication. The process of reconciling medications with current diseases or conditions on hospital admission has not been officially advocated by The Joint Commission, but it could help clinicians better assess the continued need for home medications and possibly decrease the use of polypharmacy. ⋯ Many of the unspecified medications that were identified in this study have been associated with polypharmacy in the literature. The results of this study suggest that matching home medications with indications for those medications on admission to the hospital enhanced the medication reconciliation process. Direct patient questioning by the pharmacist clarified medication use and contributed to more accurate and complete medication history taking.