BACKGROUND Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) in older people is associated with increases in morbidity, hospitalisation and mortality. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of and factors associated with PIP, among those aged ≥70 years, in the United Kingdom, using a comprehensive set of prescribing indicators and comparing these to estimates obtained from a trunc...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence and predictors of medications deemed potentially inappropriate for the elderly among family physicians' patients aged 65 and older (seniors) taking multiple prescribed medications. METHODS Forty-eight randomly selected family practices in 16 towns and cities in Southern Ontario, Canada and 889 of their senior patients were recruited into a randomized trial...

BACKGROUND Tertiary care hospitals are a potential source for development and spread of bacterial resistance being in the loop to receive outpatients and referrals from community nursing homes and hospitals. The liberal use of third-generation cephalosporins (3GCs) in these hospitals has been associated with the emergence of extended-spectrum beta- lactamases (ESBLs) presenting concerns for bac...

BACKGROUND Psychotropic agents account for 23% to 51% of all inappropriate medications prescribed based on 1991 inappropriate medication criteria for nursing home residents. The criteria were revised to apply to all people older than 65 years. This study used the revised criteria in ambulatory settings to quantify potentially inappropriate prescription of psychotropic agents and identify associ...

Inappropriate prescribing is a rising threat to the health of Medicare beneficiaries and a drain on Medicare's finances. In this study we used a randomized controlled trial approach to evaluate a low-cost, light-touch intervention aimed at reducing the inappropriate provision of Schedule II controlled substances in the Medicare Part D program. Potential overprescribers were sent a letter explai...

Herbal medicines play an increasingly important role in the perception of physicians and patients looking for equally effective, albeit safer approaches to conventional management of acute bronchitis. A no antibiotic or delayed antibiotic prescribing strategy to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections (RTI) has been advocated since the late 1990’s (L...

Adverse clinical events related to inappropriate prescribing practices are an important threat to patient safety. Avoidance of inappropriate prescribing in community settings, where the majority of prescriptions are written, offers a major area of opportunity to improve quality of care and outcomes. Electronic medication order entry systems, with automated clinical risk screening and online ale...

       The goal of this study is to identify the types of potentially inappropriate drugs prescribed by the medical specialists of Isfahan province to elderly patients. A number of 31,254 randomly selected prescriptions from medical specialists of Isfahan province were reviewed for elderly patients who were insured by the Social Security Organization. Three thousand and seven prescriptions were...

BACKGROUND The Prescription Peer Academic Detailing (Rx-PAD) project is an educational intervention study aiming at improving GPs' competence in pharmacotherapy. GPs in CME peer groups were randomised to receive a tailored intervention, either to support a safer prescription practice for elderly patients or to improve prescribing of antibiotics to patients with respiratory tract infections. The...

OBJECTIVE To develop a practitioner led definition of a prescribing error for use in quantitative studies of their incidence. DESIGN Two stage Delphi technique. SUBJECTS A panel of 34 UK judges, which included physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, nurses and risk managers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The extent to which judges agreed with a general definition of a prescribing error, and the extent...