Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2012
The effect of an educational intervention on meperidine use in Nova Scotia, Canada: a time series analysis.
To evaluate the impact of a prescriber focused individual educational and audit-feedback intervention undertaken by the Nova Scotia Prescription Monitoring Program (NSPMP) in March/April 2007 to reduce meperidine use. ⋯ Given the risks associated with meperidine, determining that this intervention successfully reduced meperidine use is encouraging. This study highlights the potential for using population data such as the NSPMP to evaluate the effectiveness of population-level interventions to improve medication use, including professional, organizational, financial, and regulatory initiatives.
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2012
Drug prescriptions of adults with adolescent depression in a community sample.
The prescription drugs have, to our knowledge, not been much studied in epidemiological samples with long-term follow-up. Accordingly, our purpose was to analyze the use of prescription drugs in adults with adolescent depression. ⋯ The females but not males with adolescent depression subsequently received more prescription drugs than non-depressed peers. Depressed female adolescents received more psychotropic and non-psychotropic drugs later in life compared to the non-depressed. This might be as a result of physical illnesses, different treatment-seeking behaviors, or somatizing reactions.
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2012
Off-label prescribing patterns of antidepressants in children and adolescents.
To understand the extent of off-label prescribing among pediatrics, the study assesses the prescribing patterns of antidepressants in ambulatory settings. ⋯ The study observed a very high prevalence of off-label antidepressant prescribing patterns among children and adolescents in US ambulatory care settings. Coordinated efforts should be placed to evaluate the potential reasons and ramifications of antidepressant off-label prescribing to guard patients' safety.
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2012
Polypharmacy of potentially addictive medication in the older persons--quantifying usage.
The use of restricted medications, for example, opioids, benzodiazepines (BZD), and z-hypnotics, in the older persons continues to increase. Little is known about usage practices or about the extent of polypharmacy within this group. The objectives of this study were (i) to describe polypharmacy and (ii) to develop a medication usage index (MUI) to quantify usage patterns. ⋯ Polypharmacy was found to be common within these restricted drug categories for the older persons. MUI provides a convenient approach to summarizing drug usage and will be useful in detecting trends and regional differences and determining the impact of interventions.
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2012
Utilisation of transdermal fentanyl in Germany from 2004 to 2006.
Oral morphine is the first-choice opioid for moderate to severe cancer pain. Transdermal fentanyl is an alternative in patients with stable requirements of high-potency opioids (HPO) or if drugs cannot be taken orally. Drug regulatory authorities have issued several alerts to use transdermal fentanyl only for chronic pain and in HPO-tolerant patients to minimise the risk of severe opioid side effects. The aim of this study was to characterise utilisation of transdermal fentanyl in Germany. ⋯ Transdermal fentanyl was used as a first-choice opioid, which may increase the risk of serious opioid side effects, in a substantial number of HPO-naïve patients. Inappropriate prescribing included also high initial doses in HPO-naïve patients and possible prescription for acute pain in a considerable proportion of patients.