BACKGROUND The effect of regular and expected printed educational materials on physician prescribing behaviour has not been studied. We sought to measure the impact of a series of evidence-based drug therapy letters mailed to physicians in British Columbia on prescribing to newly treated patients. METHODS A paired, cluster randomized community design was used. The study population included 49...

BACKGROUND Citalopram is the most commonly prescribed antidepressant in Canada. Concerns have been raised about its cardiac safety, and a dose-dependent prolongation of the QT interval has been documented. Drug interactions involving concomitant use of other medications that prolong the QT interval or increase citalopram levels by interfering with its metabolism increase the cardiac risk. Regul...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the level of appropriateness of prescribing to outpatients in selected healthcare facilities in Papua New Guinea (PNG), using health department guidelines as the benchmark. METHODS A prospective study was carried out at Losuia Health Centre (LHC), Alotau Provincial Hospital (APH) and Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) in PNG. At each set...

Adverse drug events are common in older patients, particularly in those taking at least five medications, but such events are predictable and often preventable. A rational approach to prescribing in older adults integrates physiologic changes of aging with knowledge of pharmacology. Focusing on specific outcomes, such as the prompt recognition of adverse drug events, allows the family physician...

Systemic drugs have been used widely in the treatment of many skin diseases. Although dermatologists are familiar with the guidelines of selecting appropriate patients and prescribing systemic drugs, their knowledge about the side effects and significant interactions of systemic drugs used in dermatology is more limited. So a short review on important drug interactions seems to be useful. Some ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence and patterns of high risk prescribing, defined as potentially inappropriate prescribing of drugs to primary care patients particularly vulnerable to adverse drug events. DESIGN Cross sectional population database analysis. SETTING General practices in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS 315 Scottish general practices with 1.76 million registered patients, 139 404 (7...

OBJECTIVE Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) provides formulary information at the point of care. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of e-prescribing on formulary compliance and generic utilization. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of pharmacy claims data from a large national managed care organization. A sample of 95 providers using predominantly e-prescribing...

BACKGROUND In more than half of elderly chronically-ill family clinic attendees, drug prescribing deviates from the internationally acknowledged STOPP/START recommendations. Our study will determine whether it is possible to improve the quality of drug prescriptions in chronically-ill elderly people living at home by regularly monitoring the prescribed drugs according to STOPP/START criteria. ...

Objective: This study was undertaken to describe physicians’ views regarding ambulatory medication prescribing safety. Methods: We conducted 17 semistructured interviews among a sample of practicing physicians from 3 integrated health delivery systems. We asked about current safety practices, perceptions of ambulatory prescribing safety, and recommended approaches for improving prescribing safe...

BACKGROUND The audit of drug prescribing pattern in under-five children is essential in identifying the various types of non-rational prescribing such as polypharmacy and irrational use of antimicrobials. The primary objective of this study was to determine the drug prescribing pattern for children aged below five years attending the paediatric outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Ado-Ek...