OBJECTIVE China introduced a series of health reforms in 2009, including a national essential medicines policy and a medical insurance system for primary care institutions. This study aimed to determine the changing prescribing patterns associated with those reforms in township hospitals. METHODS A multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling method was adopted to identify 29 township hospi...

Methods: We defined PIRx using the combined version of the Beers criteria. Data were from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Nursing Home Component. The study sample included 3372 residents, 65 years and older, who had nursing home stays of 3 consecutive months or longer in 1996. We performed multivariate logistic regression analyses of longitudinal data using generalized estimating equa...

Few studies have investigated the appropriateness of antibiotic use in postdisaster settings. We retrospectively evaluated clinical databases on health care delivered at clinics near shelters set up after the Great East Japan Earthquake, 2011. We defined appropriate, acceptable, and inappropriate antibiotic use for each diagnostic category, by applying and adopting precedent studies and clinica...

introduction: the inappropriate use of broad- spectrum antimicrobials in intensive care units (icu) is a universal problem. the main goal of this study was to implement antibiotic stewardship program (abs) concentrated on vancomycin and carbapenems, in pediatric icu (picu) of sheikh hospital. as an accessory purpose we looked for the effect of abs on the rate of antibiotic administration, lengt...

BACKGROUND Elderly residents of long-term care facilities are more vulnerable to being prescribed inappropriate medications because of the high incidence of co-medication in this population resulting from the presence of multiple chronic diseases and also age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the frequency of potentially inappropriate medications...

The therapeutic impact of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is debatable, particularly in situations where infections are treated empirically with multiply prescribed antibiotics. Prescribers may remain under the illusion that such prescriptions are appropriate on the basis of any observed positive treatment outcomes, even though an antibiotic prescribed in such combination therapy may a...

BACKGROUND Polypharmacy is frequent in the elderly population and is associated with potentially drug inappropriateness and drug-related problems. OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness and safety of a medication evaluation programme for community-dwelling polymedicated elderly people. DESIGN Randomized, open-label, multicentre, parallel-arm clinical trial with 1-year follow-up. SETTING P...

BACKGROUND Controlling the growth of pharmaceutical expenditures is a major global challenge. Promotion of generic drug prescriptions or use is gaining increased support. There are substantial contextual differences in international experiences of implementing pharmaceutical policies related to generic drugs. Reporting these experiences from varied perspectives can inform future policy making. ...

Abstract Aim: To evaluate guideline compliance of antibiotics prescription in Emergency Department (ED). improve documentation antibiotic prescription. highlight the need for good stewardship. optimise use antibiotics. Method A cross-sectional, retrospective patient record review was conducted regarding over 1 month Sheffield Children’s Hospital ED. All prescriptions that period were collected....

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health worldwide. As the healthcare sector's use of antibiotics is an important contributor to the development of resistance, it is crucial that physicians only prescribe antibiotics when needed and that they choose narrow-spectrum antibiotics, which act on fewer bacteria types, when possible. Inappropriate use of antibiotics is nonetheless wide...