BACKGROUND Many medications pose greater health risks when prescribed for older adults, compared with available pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic alternatives. We sought to quantify the frequency and cost of potentially inappropriate prescribing for older women and men in Canada. METHODS Using data for 2013 from the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System database, which co...

BACKGROUND Currently, far too many older adults consume inappropriate prescriptions, which increase the risk of adverse drug reactions and unnecessary hospitalizations. A health education program directly informing patients of prescription risks may promote inappropriate prescription discontinuation in chronic benzodiazepine users. METHODS/DESIGN This is a cluster randomized controlled trial ...

Avoiding medications in which the risks outweigh the benefits in the elderly patient is a challenge for physicians, and different criteria to identify inappropriate prescription (IP) exist to aid prescribers. Definition of IP indicators in the Italian geriatric population affected by cardiovascular disease and chronic comorbidities could be extremely useful for prescribers and could offer advan...

A potential threat to the success of new tuberculosis (TB) drugs is the development of resistance. Using drugs in appropriate regimens, such as those recommended in the World Health Organization (WHO) treatment guidelines, prevents the development of resistance. We performed a systematic review to assess the prevalence of inappropriate prescription of TB drugs for the treatment of TB. MEDLINE, ...

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...

One of the most important problems encountered by healthcare system is the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. It may result from irrational or inappropriate use of antibiotics. The present study was undertaken to screen rational use of antimicrobials in outpatient department (OPD). Prescriptions from medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology (OBG) and pediatrics OPDs were col...

BACKGROUND Prescribing inappropriate pill splitting is not rare in clinical practice. To reduce inappropriate pill splitting, we developed an automatic warning system linked to a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system for special oral formulation drugs in outpatient settings. We examined the impact of the warning system on inappropriate prescribing of pill splitting and assess prescri...