Design: This was a cluster trial with 28 primary care physicians randomized to either automated or on-demand CDDS in the MOXXI drug management system for 3,449 of their patients seen over the next 6 months. Measurements: The CDDS generated alerts for prescribing problems that could be customized by severity level. Prescribing problems included dosing errors, drug–drug, age, allergy, and disease...

BACKGROUND prescribing for older people is a complex process and can elevate the risk of inappropriate prescribing, with potentially severe consequences. With a growing ageing population, strategies to improve prescribing in care homes are essential. Our aim was to review systematically the effects of interventions to optimise prescribing in care homes. METHOD databases searched were MEDLINE,...

This study was carried out to analyse drug-prescribing practices in primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in the Gaza Strip. We retrospectively evaluated 2569 prescriptions from 22 PHCs during January-December 2014. Systematic random sampling was applied. Analysis followed the World Health Organization recommended core prescribing indicators. The mean number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2 ...

PURPOSE This study was undertaken to describe prescribing practice for the anti-convulsant drug (AED) Sodium Valproate (VPA) in an Irish population of woman of childbearing age during the period of the emergence of new data showing a high rate of developmental abnormalities in offspring of women who took VPA during pregnancy. METHODS All prescriptions dispensed from community pharmacies in Ir...

As policymakers debate adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, they must also seek ways to promote cost-effective use of drugs and minimize inappropriate prescribing. For more than a decade, all state Medicaid agencies and most private insurers have used computerized drug utilization review (DUR) programs to prevent or rectify potential prescribing errors. DUR can be retrospective, in w...

Background First-year doctors found that during out-of-hours shifts they were being delayed and distracted from reviewing potentially sick/deteriorating patients by a high volume of prescribing tasks. This predominately consisted of oral anticoagulation prescribing and rewrites of drug charts. We hoped that if we could reduce this burden of "inappropriate prescribing tasks", we could not only i...

OBJECTIVE Explore the situations in which GPs associate drug use with falls among their elderly patients, and the factors influencing the prescribing and cessation of fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs). DESIGN A qualitative study with 13 GPs who participated in two semi-structured focus groups in Central Norway. Participants were encouraged to share overall thoughts on the use of FRIDs among ...

INTRODUCTION Over the last few years, hypnotic and anxiolytic medications have had their clinical efficacy questioned in the context of concerns regarding dependence, tolerance alongside other adverse effects. It remains unclear how these concerns have impacted clinical prescribing practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a study reviewing community-dispensed prescribing data for patients on t...

BACKGROUND Seven percent of acute hospital admissions result from adverse drug reactions, of which 25% are due to drug interactions. Adverse effects of statin drugs occur in 3% of patients, mainly due to co-prescribing with other lipid-lowering agents or agents that alter their metabolism. AIM The aim of this study was to investigate co-prescribing of the frequently-used statin medications wi...