International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy

BACKGROUND: It is estimated that one-third of delirium cases in hospitals could be prevented with appropriate interventions. In Dutch hospitals a manual instrument (VMS-questions) is used to identify patients at-risk for delirium. Delirium Model (DEMO) is an automated model which could support delirium prevention more efficiently. However, it has not been validated beyond the hospital it was developed in. AIM: To externally validate the DEMO and compare its performance to the VMS-questions...

BACKGROUND: Consolidated and reliable evidence regarding the effectiveness of pharmacist interventions for deprescribing benzodiazepines in older outpatients is lacking. AIM: This study evaluated and summarized the impact of pharmacist interventions on benzodiazepine deprescribing among older outpatients. METHOD: A literature search was conducted until August 2022 in PubMed, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases...

BACKGROUND: An association between adrenergic alpha-1 receptor antagonists and delirium has been suggested, but the details are unclear. AIM: This study investigated the association between adrenergic alpha-1 receptor antagonists and delirium in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database. METHOD: First, disproportionality analysis compared the frequency of delirium in the adrenergic alpha-1 receptor antagonists silodosin, tamsulosin, and naftopidil...

Pharmacists have a contribution to make in improving optimising medication use for people on antipsychotic medication. The rates of prescribing antipsychotics have increased in England with an 18% rise from 2015 to 2020. People on antipsychotic medication are not treated as equal partners in conversations about their medications. This can leave people to make decisions about their antipsychotic medications without input from their prescribers which can have significant consequences for individuals. Involving people in the decision-making process, as experts on their own condition, has the potential to improve treatment outcomes...

BACKGROUND: With the pharmacist role extending internationally to include health promotion and harm reduction, pharmacists are well-suited to adopt a frontline role within suicide prevention efforts. To maximise their abilities to implement suicide prevention strategies, suicide prevention training is essential to improve pharmacists' knowledge of, attitudes towards, and confidence in pharmacy-based suicide prevention. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an online Advanced Suicide Prevention Training for Pharmacists and explore how participant feedback may direct training improvements...

BACKGROUND: Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is a patient-centered service that optimizes drug therapy, improves clinical outcomes, and enhances quality of life. Pharmacists play a critical role in MTM services and provide comprehensive medication management for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and readiness of Iraqi community pharmacists regarding MTM services for ADHD patients...

BACKGROUND: Look-alike medications, where ampoules or vials of intravenous medications look similar, may increase the risk of medication errors in the perioperative setting. AIM: This scoping review aimed to identify and explore the issues related to look-alike medication incidents in the perioperative setting and the reported risk reduction interventions. METHOD: Eight databases were searched including: CINAHL Complete, Embase, OVID Emcare, Pubmed, Scopus, Informit, Cochrane and Prospero and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)...

BACKGROUND: Medication errors are common events that compromise patient safety. Outpatient and ambulatory settings enhance access to healthcare which has been linked to favorable outcomes. While medication errors have been extensively researched in inpatient settings, there is dearth of literature from outpatient settings. AIM: To synthesize the peer-reviewed literature on the prevalence, nature, contributory factors, and interventions to minimize medication errors in outpatient and ambulatory settings...

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists can have an essential role in providing care for patients with mental illness. There are gaps in the understanding of the current extent of pharmacists' involvement in caring for patients with mental illness and their readiness to effectively provide this care. AIM: To describe the current practices, attitudes, and beliefs of pharmacists in providing care to individuals with mental illness, and to assess factors that may impact these practices...

BACKGROUND: Documentation of drug related problems (DRPs) and pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) is essential for an objective evaluation of the pharmacist's contribution to pharmacotherapy. However, in Belgium, a nationally used classification system is not available, prohibiting structured and uniform documentation of DRPs and PIs. AIM: To develop and validate a national classification system for in-hospital clinical pharmacy activities, based on literature and field experience, specifically intended for routine registration...

BACKGROUND: Over the past 40 years, the tasks of pharmacists have shifted from logistic services to pharmaceutical care (PhC). Despite the increasing importance of measuring quality of care, there is no general definition of Quality Indicators (QIs) to measure PhC. Recognising this, a working group in a European association of PhC researchers, the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE), was established in 2020. AIM: This research aimed to review existing definitions of QIs and develop a definition of QIs for PhC...

BACKGROUND: Malignant skin tumors are adverse events of concern regarding Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the association between JAK inhibitors and adverse events of malignant skin tumors, and to characterize the main features. METHOD: Data (2012-2021) were collected using the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Adverse event cases of JAK inhibitors as the primary suspected drug were extracted for further analysis...

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists working in general practice are a relatively new phenomenon in many European countries. Providing insight into what pharmacists do in general practice may support further implementation of general practice-based pharmacist roles and enhance their contribution to health care. AIM: To explore the tasks performed by pharmacists in general practice in Sweden. METHOD: A case study was conducted in 7 general practices in Uppsala County, Sweden, where pharmacists were employed...

BACKGROUND: Medication safety is important to limit adverse events for nursing home residents. Several factors, such as interprofessional collaboration with pharmacists and medication reviews, have been shown in the literature to influence medication safety processes. AIM: This study had three main objectives: (1) To assess how facility- and unit-level organization and infrastructure are related to medication use processes; (2) To determine the extent of medication safety-relevant processes; and (3) To explore pharmacies' and pharmacists' involvement in nursing homes' medication-related processes...

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists play an important role in healthcare. They are frequently visited by patients to receive advice on self-medication products. Little research has been conducted to investigate pharmacists' information needs for evidence-based self-medication counselling. AIM: To assess community pharmacists' information needs in five predefined areas: general and specific individual needs, quality needs, utilisation needs, implication needs, and access needs for evidence based self-medication counselling...

BACKGROUND: Patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and their caregivers can be defined as people with higher risk of developing medication-related problems due to aging and polypharmacy. AIM: To assess the medication exposure of patient with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and their caregivers. METHOD: Ancillary cross-sectional study based on baseline medication data of the PHARMAID RCT. The PHARMAID study was a multi-center RCT assessing an integrated pharmaceutical care at a psychosocial program...

BACKGROUND: The area under the curve (AUC) to minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ratio is proposed as a therapeutic drug-monitoring parameter for dosing vancomycin continuous infusion in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Individualised pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) calculation of AUC24 may better represent therapeutic dosing than current Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) practices, targeting a Steady State Concentration of 15-25 mg/L. AIM: To compare real world TDM practice to theoretical, individualised, PK/PD target parameters utilising Bayesian predictions to steady state concentrations (Css) for outpatients on continuous vancomycin infusions...

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists need knowledge and confidence to support people living with mental illness. Evidence-based educational materials for pharmacy students to provide psychosis care is limited. AIM: To co-design, content validate and pilot-test, with mental health stakeholders, simulated patient scenarios to educate and assess students in providing psychosis care. METHOD: Mental health consumers were invited to co-design three simulated patient scenarios (first-episode psychosis, carer of someone living with schizophrenia, non-adherence to antipsychotics), guided by published and psychometrically-tested materials...

BACKGROUND: Although support is needed, no method exists to elicit and integrate personal goals into medication optimization interventions for nursing home residents. AIM: To develop and evaluate a tool to (1) elicit and evaluate residents' personal goals during medication optimization, and (2) elicit involvement preferences regarding medication decision-making. METHOD: A draft was composed by the research team, on which feedback was collected through four focus groups with healthcare professionals (n = 23) and pilot interviews with residents (n = 6)...

BACKGROUND: Z-drugs (zopiclone, zolpidem and zaleplon) are drugs with dependence forming characteristics licensed for the short-term management of insomnia. Patients regularly prescribed z-drugs are candidates for 'structured medication reviews', routinely delivered by pharmacists employed in general practice or primary care networks in England. AIM: To understand the factors that affect pharmacist decision-making when reviewing and prescribing z-drugs in primary care...