Evidence-based Medication knowledge Brokers in Residential Aged CarE (EMBRACE): protocol for a helix-counterbalanced randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical practice guidelines recommend against the routine use of psychotropic medications in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Knowledge brokers are individuals or groups who facilitate the transfer of knowledge into practice. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using knowledge brokers to translate Australia's new Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Psychotropic Medications in People Living with Dementia and in Residential Aged Care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Evidence-based Medication knowledge Brokers in Residential Aged CarE (EMBRACE) trial is a helix-counterbalanced randomised controlled trial. The 12-month trial will be conducted in up to 19 RACFs operated by four Australian aged care provider organisations in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. RACFs will be randomised to receive three levels of implementation strategies (knowledge broker service, pharmacist-led quality use of medications education activities and distribution of the Guidelines and supporting materials) across three medication contexts (antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and antidepressants). Implementation strategies will be delivered by an embedded on-site aged care pharmacist working at a system level across each participating RACF. All RACFs will receive all implementation strategies simultaneously but for different medication contexts. The primary outcome will be a composite dichotomous measure of 6-month RACF-level concordance with Guideline recommendations and good practice statements among people using antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and antidepressants for changed behaviours. Secondary outcomes will include proportion of residents with Guideline concordant use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and antidepressants measured at the RACF-level and proportion of residents with psychotropic medication use, hospitalisation, falls, falls with injury, polypharmacy, quality of life, activities of daily living, medication incidents and behavioural incidents measured at the RACF-level. DISCUSSION: The EMBRACE trial investigates a novel guideline implementation strategy to improve the safe and effective use of psychotropic medications in RACFs. We anticipate that the findings will provide new information on the potential role of knowledge brokers for successful and cost-effective guideline implementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12623001141639. Registered 6 November 2023 - retrospectively registered, https://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx .

Deprescribing Tool for Older PeoPle with Limited-life Expectancy (De-TOPPLE) version 1: Development and validation using a modified Delphi technique.

Deprescribing decision making in older adults with limited life expectancy is often challenging for clinicians. We aimed to develop and validate a Deprescribing Tool for Older People with Limited-life Expectancy (De-TOPPLE). Modified Delphi technique was used to gain experts' consensus on the tool and further develop using their feedback. Experts [Round-1 (n = 13), Round-2 (n = 7)] had clinical and/or research background on geriatric medicine, geriatrics, family medicine or pharmacotherapy. Round-1 consensus was achieved on approach taken by the tool to evaluate risk and benefit; distinguishing medications as preventive, symptom control or dual-purpose; referring to established deprescribing process; stepwise approach to deprescribing; and the overall concept. Common feedback was to reflect upon harm-benefit analysis, distinguish medication types earlier, qualify adverse events, use time-to-benefit (TTB), prioritise symptom relief, monitor post-deprescribing, include shared decision making and define terms for clinical familiarisation. After tool update, Round-2 consensus was achieved on usability in clinical setting, flexibility of implicit judgement, ceasing preventive medication with inadequate TTB, ceasing symptom control medication with inadequate symptom relief, ceasing dual-purpose medication (DPM) with inadequate TTB and symptom relief, and continuing DPM with adequate TTB and symptom relief. De-TOPPLE version 1 was developed and validated through two rounds of the Delphi process. Clinical use of the tool needs final validation following the addition of contextual statements to the tool.

Stroke epidemiology and outcomes of stroke patients in Nepal: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: With an increasing burden of stroke, it is essential to minimize the incidence of stroke and improve stroke care by emphasizing areas that bring out the maximum impact. The care situation remains unclear in the absence of a national stroke care registry and a lack of structured hospital-based data monitoring. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the status of stroke care in Nepal and identify areas that need dedicated improvement in stroke care. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify all studies on stroke epidemiology or stroke care published between 2000 and 2020 in Nepal. Data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA-3). RESULTS: We identified 2533 studies after database searching, and 55 were included in quantitative and narrative synthesis. All analyses were done in tertiary care settings in densely populated central parts of Nepal. Ischemic stroke was more frequent (70.87%) than hemorrhagic (26.79%), and the mean age of stroke patients was 62,9 years. Mortality occurred in 16.9% (13-21.7%), thrombolysis was performed in 2.39% of patients, and no studies described thrombectomy or stroke unit care. CONCLUSION: The provision of stroke care in Nepal needs to catch up to international standards, and our systematic review demonstrated the need to improve access to quality stroke care. Dedicated studies on establishing stroke care units, prevention, rehabilitation, and studies on lower levels of care or remote regions are required.

Impact of hospital pharmacist-delivered individualised pharmaceutical service intervention on clinical and patient-reported outcomes in patients with hypertension: a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with hypertension in Nepal are often known to have poor medication adherence and quality of life. This randomised controlled trial aimed to evaluate the impact of a hospital pharmacist-delivered individualised pharmaceutical service (P-DIPS) intervention on blood pressure, medication adherence and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with hypertension in a hospital setting in Nepal. METHODS: In an open trial, 56 adult patients with hypertension who had been receiving antihypertensive medication for ≥6 months were randomly allocated to a control group (n=28) which received the usual care and an intervention group (n=28) which received a P-DIPS along with the usual care. The difference in blood pressure, medication adherence and HRQoL between the two groups at baseline, 2 and 4 months was compared using the Mann-Whitney U test, independent t-test or χ2 tests. RESULTS: Participants were mostly ≥40 years (86%) and female (57%). There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the control (C) and intervention (I) groups. At 2 months, the two groups had a significant improvement in the median (IQR) Morisky-Green-Levine (MGL) Medication Adherence Score (I=1 (2) vs C=2 (2); p<0.001) and the median (IQR) mental component of HRQoL (I=43.6 (9.5) vs C=37.5 (8.6); p=0.013). At 4 months, there were significant differences in the median (IQR) values of all the outcome measures between the groups (systolic blood pressure: I=125 (10) mmHg vs C=130 (15) mmHg, p=0.008; diastolic blood pressure: 80 (14) mmHg vs 90 (10) mmHg, p=0.012; MGL score: I=1 (1) vs C=2 (1), p<0.001; physical component of HRQoL: 45.0 (9.0) vs 40.3 (8.2), p=0.046; and mental component of HRQoL: 47.1 (11.1) vs 38.8 (8.5), p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that a P-DIPS intervention in the hospital setting of Nepal has a significant potential to improve blood pressure, medication adherence and HRQoL in patients with hypertension.

A systematic review on methods for developing and validating deprescribing tools for older adults with limited life expectancy.

OBJECTIVES: A number of deprescribing tools are available to assist clinicians to make decisions on medication management. We aimed to review deprescribing tools that may be used with older adults that have limited life expectancy (LLE), including those at the palliative and end-of-life stage, and consider the rigour with which the tools were developed and validated. KEY FINDINGS: Literature was searched in PubMed, Embase, CINHAL and Google Scholar until February 2021 for studies involving the development and/or consensus validation of deprescribing tools targeting those aged ≥65 years with LLE. We were interested in the tool development process, tool validation process and clinical components addressed by the tool.Six studies were included. The approaches followed for tool development were systematic review (n = 3), expert-literature review (n = 2) and concept data (n = 1). The content included a list of disease-non-specific medications divided with or without recommendations (n = 4) and disease-specific medications with recommendations (n = 2). The tool validation was performed using the Delphi method (n = 4) or GRADE framework (n = 2) with panel size ranging from 8 to 17 and 60-80% consensus agreement with or without a rating scale. LLE targeted were ≤1 year (n = 2) or ≤3 months (n = 1). SUMMARY: There is a limited number of deprescribing tools with consensus validation available for use in older adults with LLE. These tools are either targeted for disease-specific medication/medication class guided by the GRADE framework or targeted for a list of medications or medication classes irrespective of disease that are developed using a combination of approaches and validated using a Delphi method.

Inhaler Competence in Nepalese Patients with Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmunory Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Incorrect use of inhalers in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is prevalent internationally. This review aims to determine the prevalence and associated factors of incorrect inhaler use and effectiveness of intervention to improve the correct use among Nepalese patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS: The protocol was registered in PROSPERO. Systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL,and Google Scholar using predefined search terms. Studies in patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reporting at least one overall or critical error, using dry powder inhalers and pressurized metered dose inhalers were included. The quality of included studies was assessed using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Quality Assessment Tools. A descriptive narrative synthesis was undertaken. RESULTS: Twelve studies were eligible for analysis. At least one overall and critical step of the inhaler technique was performed incorrectly by the large number of patients, ranging from 64-100% and 9-100%, respectively. The incorrect use was associated with factors related to patients, inhalers, and health care professionals. The interventions included a combination of verbal instruction, physical demonstration, and/or face-to-face training on correct inhaler use. Following the intervention, an improvement of 23-37% in the overall inhaler technique and 7-42% in the critical steps was achieved. CONCLUSIONS: Existing literature suggests that Nepalese patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have high overall and critical error rates in the use of dry powder inhalers and pressurized metered dose inhalers. A well-designed educational intervention is necessary to improve the correct use of inhalers in this population.

Psychosocial Well-Being of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Chitwan District, Nepal: a Mixed Method Study.

BACKGROUND: Along with many physical issues associated with the HIV/AIDS there are socio-psychological ill-effects including depression, anxiety and stress. The antiretroviral therapy has been successful in prolonging the life but not much information is available on the psychosocial issues and social support from Nepal. METHODS: Sequential explanatory mixed method study design was followed. All the patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy in Bharatpur Hospital above 18 years of age and giving consent to participate were conveniently selected. Validated Nepalese version of Becks Depression Inventory and Becks Anxiety Inventory tool while translated and validated Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support scale was used Purposive In-depth Interview was conducted with open ended questionnaire to obtain qualitative data. Chi-square and logistic regression were used for quantitative analysis while manual content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. RESULTS: The totals of 288 participants were included in the study About 43% had some level of depression, 98% had very low level of anxiety and almost half of the people had high support. In binary logistic regression model, the significant variables were sex, marital status and occupation. Females had 2.622 times more odds of depression than males, the risk of having depression in occupation group- agriculture and household was 3.661 and 2.508 time more as compared to jobholder respectively. Similarly, single individuals had 2.815 higher odds of depression than couples. Emotional disturbances and fear of vulnerability, stigmatization, dealing with difficulties were the major problems in these groups with good familial and organization support. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians, health and AIDS professionals should routinely screen for depression among other interventions to promote psychological health in HIV/AIDS-positive individuals.

Development and validation of a tool to understand health care professionals' attitudes towards deprescribing (HATD) in older adults with limited life expectancy.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the perspective of health care professionals (HCPs) is significant to the implementation of deprescribing in older adults with limited life expectancy (LLE) but a tool to assess this is lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and validate a survey tool for assessing HCPs attitudes towards deprescribing (HATD) in older adults with LLE. METHODS: An online survey was used to collect data to determine the psychometric properties of a 49-item questionnaire generated from literature review, expert opinion and pretesting. 108 HCPs (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) with experience or interest in palliative care or a member of a palliative care team/organisation completed the survey. RESULTS: Principal component analysis of the participants' data resulted in a 23-item questionnaire structured in five factors, named HATD tool. The factors were related to concerns about deprescribing (7 items), perceived burden of medications on patients (7 items), organisational support for deprescribing (4 items), assurance to deprescribing (2 items) and perceived involvement of patients in medication management (3 items). The HATD tool had valid descriptive statistics (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure: 0.708; Bartlett's test of sphericity: p < 0.001, determinant: 1.35E-5; variance explained: 60.4%; nonredundant residuals with absolute values > 0.05: 39%). The reliability statistics of all the factors were ≥0.750 for both Cronbach's alpha (α) and composite reliability (CR) except for the patient-involvement factor (α = 0.644 but CR = 0.787). CONCLUSIONS: The 23-itemed HATD tool is a valid and reliable tool to assess the attitudes and beliefs of HCPs towards deprescribing in older adults with LLE in the Australian setting.

Impact of deprescribing dual-purpose medications on patient-related outcomes for older adults near end-of-life: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The decision to deprescribe medications used for both disease prevention and symptom control (dual-purpose medications or DPMs) is often challenging for clinicians. We aim to establish the impact of deprescribing DPMs on patient-related outcomes for older adults near end-of-life (EOL). METHODS: This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guideline. Literature was searched on PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Google Scholar until December 2019 for studies on deprescribing intervention with a control group (with or without randomisation); targeting ⩾65-year olds, at EOL, with at least one life-limiting illness and at least one potentially inappropriate DPM. We were interested in any patient-related outcomes. Studies with similar outcome assessment criteria were subjected to meta-analysis and narrative synthesis otherwise. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias and ROBINS-I tools for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental non-randomised controlled studies, respectively. RESULTS: Five studies covering 689 participants with mean age 81.6-85.7 years, the majority (74.6-100%) with dementia were included. The risk of bias was moderate to low. The deprescribing of DPMs lowered the risk of mortality (risk ratio (RR) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.44-0.79) and referral to acute care facilities (RR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.22-0.73), but did not have a significant impact on the risk of falls, non-vertebral fracture, emergency presentation, unplanned hospital admission, or general practitioner visits. No significant difference was observed in the quality of life, physical and cognitive functions between the intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: There is some evidence that deprescribing of DPMs for older adults near the EOL can lower the risk of mortality and referral to acute care facilities, but there are insufficient good-quality studies powered to confirm a benefit in terms of quality of life, physical or cognitive function, health service utilisation and adverse events. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: What is the health impact of withdrawal or dose reduction of medication used for disease prevention and symptom control in older adults near end-of-life? Introduction: Older adults (aged ⩾ 65 years) with advanced diseases such as cancer, dementia, and organ failure tend to have a limited life expectancy. With the progression of these diseases towards the end-of-life, the intensity for day-to-day supportive care becomes increasingly necessary. The use of medications for symptom management is a critical part of such care, but the use of medications for long-term disease prevention can become irrelevant due to the already shortened life expectancy and may become harmful due to alterations in physiology and pharmacology associated with age and frailty. This necessitates the withdrawal or dose reduction of inappropriate medications, the process called deprescribing. The decision to deprescribe medications used for both disease prevention and symptom control (DPMs) in this population is often challenging for clinicians. In this context, whether deprescribing of DPMs can improve patient-related health outcomes is unknown.Methods: Evidence from the literature was reviewed and analysed, and the quality of studies was assessed. Five studies were identified, which had 689 participants with an average age above 80 years and mostly suffering from dementia.Results: The analysis of these studies showed deprescribing of DPMs lowered the risk of death and referral to acute care facilities at 12 months but had no significant impact on falls, non-vertebral fractures, emergency presentations, unplanned hospital admission, general practitioner visits, quality of life, physical and mental functions.Conclusion: In conclusion, there were insufficient numbers of high-quality studies powered to confirm whether deprescribing of DPMs reduces adverse events, health service use, or improves the quality of life or functioning in older adults near the end of life.

Cost-Effectiveness of Medicinal Cannabis for Management of Refractory Symptoms Associated With Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations.

OBJECTIVES: Although there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that cannabinoids may relieve symptoms of some illnesses, they are relatively high-cost therapies compared with illicit growth and supply. This article aimed to comprehensively review economic evaluations of medicinal cannabis for alleviating refractory symptoms associated with chronic conditions. METHODS: Seven electronic databases were searched for articles published up to September 6, 2020. The quality of reporting of economic evaluations was assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist. The extracted data were grouped into subcategories according to types of medical conditions, organized into tables, and reported narratively. RESULTS: This review identified 12 cost-utility analyses conducted across a variety of diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS) (N = 8), pediatric drug-resistant epilepsies (N = 2), and chronic pain (N = 2). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio varied widely from cost saving to more than US$451 800 per quality-adjusted life-year depending on the setting, perspectives, types of medicinal cannabis, and indications. Nabiximols is a cost-effective intervention for MS spasticity in multiple European settings. Cannabidiol was found to be a cost-effective for Dravet syndrome in a Canadian setting whereas a cost-utility analysis conducted in a US setting deemed cannabidiol to be not cost-effective for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Overall study quality was good, with publications meeting 70% to 100% (median 83%) of the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Medicinal cannabis-based products may be cost-effective treatment options for MS spasticity, Dravet syndrome, and neuropathic pain, although the literature is nascent. Well-designed clinical trials and health economic evaluations are needed to generate adequate clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence to assist in resource allocation.

Antibiotic utilization, sensitivity, and cost in the medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: High utilization and irrational use of antibiotics in an intensive care unit increases microbial resistance, morbidity, mortality, and costs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the utilization, sensitivity and cost analysis of antibiotics used in the medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Nepal. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted on patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit at a tertiary care teaching hospital in central Nepal from July to September 2016. Antibiotic utilization, defined daily dose per 100 bed-days and the cost of antibiotics per patient were calculated. Descriptive statistics were performed using IBM-SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: A total of 365 antibiotics were prescribed in 157 patients during the study period, with an average of 2.34 prescriptions per patient. Total antibiotic utilization in terms of defined daily dose per 100 bed-days was 49.5. Piperacillin/tazobactam (45.2%) was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, and meropenem was the most expensive antibiotics (US$4440.70). The median (interquartile range) cost of antibiotics used per patient was US$47.67 (US$63.73). Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas sp. were the common organisms isolated and were found to be resistant to some of the commonly used antibiotics. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the utilization and cost of antibiotics are high in medical intensive care unit of the hospital and E. coli was resistant to multiple antibiotics. The findings highlight an urgent need for the implementation of antibiotic stewardship program in order to improve antibiotic utilization in such hospital settings.

Attitudes of ambulatory care older Nepalese patients towards deprescribing and predictors of their willingness to deprescribe.

INTRODUCTION: Older adults continue to receive potentially inappropriate medications necessitating the need for medication optimization, by deprescribing. To ensure a holistic approach to deprescribing, it is essential to understand the perception of older adults towards deprescribing. This study aimed to assess the attitude of older ambulatory patients towards deprescribing and to identify factors predicting their willingness to deprescribe. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in central Nepal between March and September 2019 among 385 older ambulatory care patients (aged ⩾65 years) who were taking at least one regular medicine. The perception of patients towards deprescribing was assessed using the revised Patients' Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire via a face-to-face interview method. Descriptive statistics were performed to describe patients' characteristics and their attitudes towards deprescribing. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine predictors of the willingness of older ambulatory patients towards deprescribing. RESULTS: The median [interquartile range (IQR)] age of patients was 72 (8) years. Nearly three in five patients (64.9%) had hypertension, with 11.2% having polypharmacy. More than half of the patients (57.4%) would be willing to stop one or more of their regular medicines if their doctor said it was possible to do so. Regression analysis showed that age [odds ratio (OR) 0.946; 95% CI 0.913, 0.981; p = 0.003] and concerns about stopping medicine score (OR 0.541; 95% CI 0.334, 0.876; p = 0.013) were predictors of the willingness of the older patients towards deprescribing. CONCLUSION: One in two older ambulatory care patients in Nepal would be willing to have one or more of their medicines deprescribed. The factors predicting their willingness to deprescribe are their age and concerns about stopping medicines. Clinicians should consider discussing the possibility of deprescribing with older patients for the prevention of potential medication-related harms. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: What do older Nepalese patients think about withdrawal or dose reduction of an inappropriate medication?Introduction: Research suggests that older adults (aged ⩾65 years) continue to receive medications that have the potential for harm rather than a benefit. This necessitates the need for withdrawal or dose reduction of such inappropriate medications, the process known as deprescribing. Understanding what older patients think about this process could be a stepping-stone to the general approach for its implementation. Data on deprescribing is lacking from Nepal. Therefore, we designed a survey to explore the attitude of older patients towards deprescribing and factors that could predict their willingness to deprescribe.Methods: This study was conducted between March to September 2019 among 385 older patients who were taking at least one regular medicine and were visiting selected hospitals of Nepal for outpatient services. We performed a face-to-face interview to assess the attitude of patients towards deprescribing using a validated tool called revised Patients' Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire that quantified the response through scoring. The data were subjected to statistical analysis to determine the attitudes of Nepalese older patients towards deprescribing and to develop a model to predict their willingness to deprescribe.Results: The average age of the participant was 72 years with 65% having hypertension and 11% using more than five medications. Our data suggested that one in two older Nepalese patients would be willing to stop one or more of their regular medications if their doctors said it was possible to do so. Their willingness to deprescribe could be predicted from their age and concerns about stopping medications.Conclusion: Clinicians should consider discussing the possibility of deprescribing with older patients for the prevention of potential medication-related harms.

Deprescribing tool for use in older Australians with life-limiting illnesses and limited life expectancy: a modified-Delphi study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Making a meaningful decision on deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications in older adults with life-limiting illnesses (LLIs) and limited life expectancy (LLE) is often challenging. Therefore, we aimed to elicit opinion and gain consensus on a deprescribing tool for use in this population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A modified-Delphi method will be used to obtain a consensus from a panel of experts in geriatric therapeutics on a deprescribing tool for use in people aged ≥65 years with LLIs and LLE. Through an online survey, in the initial round, the panel will anonymously elicit their opinion on a series of items related to the conceptual model of the deprescribing tool, its practicality and deprescribing of medications, while on the controlled feedback in subsequent rounds till a consensus is reached or the panellists stop revising their answers. In each round, panel members will be using a 5-point Likert scale to rate their agreement with the statement. Consensus will be considered on ≥75% of agreement on the statements. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: All the participants will receive an invitation and participant information but they need to consent for the participation. Ethics approval has been granted from the University of Queensland Health and Behavioural Sciences, Low and Negligible Risk Ethics Sub-Committee (reference: 2020001069). The results of this project will be disseminated through conferences and a peer-reviewed clinical journal.

Does the content and source credibility of health and risk messages related to nicotine vaping products have an impact on harm perception and behavioural intentions? A systematic review.

AIMS: To systematically review the literature on (i) whether and how various risk messages about nicotine vaping products (NVPs) alter harm perception and behavioural intentions of smokers and non-smokers and (ii) how trust in sources of NVP risk communication affects message reception and behavioural intentions. METHODS: Seven electronic databases and reference lists of relevant articles were searched for articles published up to April 2020. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies on message effects and cross-sectional studies on source credibility were included. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Evidence Project Risk of Bias Tool were used to assess the quality of observational and intervention studies, respectively. For each outcome variable, we indicated whether there was an effect (as a 'yes' or 'no') and used effect direction plots to display information on the direction of effects. RESULTS: Nicotine addiction messages resulted in greater health and addiction risk perceptions, relative risk messages comparing the health risks of NVPs to cigarette smoking increased the perception that NVPs are less harmful than combustible cigarettes, and a nicotine fact sheet corrected misperceptions of nicotine and NVPs. Smokers' intention to purchase, try or switch to NVPs was higher when exposed to a relative risk message and lower when exposed to nicotine addiction warnings. Trust in NVP risk information from public health agencies was associated with lower odds of; (i) NVP use and (ii) perceiving NVPs as less harmful, whereas those who trusted information from NVP companies were more likely to perceive NVPs as less harmful than combustible cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: Relative risk messages may help improve the accuracy of harm perceptions of nicotine vaping products and increase smokers' intentions to quit smoking and/or to switch to vaping, although the literature is nascent.

Prevalence of Stroke and Stroke Risk Factors in a South-Western Community of Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Stroke related studies in Nepal are primarily hospital-based and mainly from the capital city. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of stroke and stroke risk factors in the South-Western community of Nepal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to August 2018 among 549 randomly selected Nepalese participants from diverse ethnicity, aged ≥15 years, in a region with the availability of neurological support facilities. Data were collected using a stroke questionnaire designed for the purpose. Stroke was identified by enumerators using the Balance-Eyes-Face-Arms-Speech-Time (BEFAST) scale, and a senior neurologist confirmed it. We assessed the presence of major risk factors associated with stroke. RESULTS: The crude and age-standardised prevalence of stroke were 2368 and 2967 per 100,000 respectively. Of all the surveyed participants, 61% (n=335) reported consumption of full-fat dairy products >3 days per week, 87.6% (n=481) reported a high intake of salt (>5 g/day), 83.6% (n=459) with a low intake of fruits and vegetables (<400 g/day), 45.2% (n=248) with perceived stress related to work or home, 51.6% (n=283) with financial stress (283, 51.6%), 86.7% (n=457) with low high-density lipoprotein, 96.2% (n=507) with high blood urea nitrogen, 47.1% (n=356) were either overweight or obese 20.4% (n=112) with hypertension and 6.2% (n=34) with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of stroke in the community of the South-Western part of Nepal is relatively higher than that estimated in South-Asia and global context. Our findings suggest an urgent community intervention, particularly with healthy lifestyles changes for future stroke prevention in the high-risk group.

Community Pharmacy Personnel Understanding of Antibiotic Dispensing in Eastern Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacies are easily accessible outlets providing medicines to the general public in Nepal, but it is known that irrational dispensing of antibiotics from such outlets contributes to antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE: To assess the understanding of community pharmacy personnel around antibiotic-dispensing in Eastern Nepal and the relationship between this understanding and their personal characteristics. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 312 pharmacy personnel working in community pharmacies of three districts within Eastern Nepal using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze participants' characteristics and their understanding of antibiotic dispensing. The relationships between their understanding of antibiotic dispensing and their characteristics were determined using Chi-square tests. RESULTS: Most of the pharmacy personnel considered that dispensing antibiotics without a valid prescription is a problem (76.9%), and that it would not be legal to do so (86.9%). In the survey, 34.9% of participants agreed that they had dispensed antibiotics without prescription, and 26.9% disagreed with the assertion that inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics could promote antimicrobial resistance. Most (94.5%) reported that they would advise patients to follow their antibiotic dosage regimen, but 34.3% reported that they believed antibiotics to reduce pain and inflammation. Bivariate analysis showed that the level of understanding about antibiotic indication was significantly associated with age (p<0.001), work experience (p<0.001) and qualifications (p=0.017) of the pharmacy personnel. Work experience and qualifications also had significant but independent relationships with the level of understanding that irrational dispensing of antibiotics promotes antimicrobial resistance (p=0.018 and p=0.004) and is on the need for patient follow-up after dispensing antibiotics (p<0.001 and p=0.042). CONCLUSION: The understanding of community pharmacy personnel about antibiotic dispensing in Eastern Nepal requires significant improvement. Degree of understanding of some aspects of antibiotic dispensing was influenced by age, work experience and qualifications.

Outcome Predictors in Scrub Typhus Requiring Ventilator and Vasopressor Support.

BACKGROUND: Age and serum creatinine are known to be predictors of mortality in scrub typhus patients admitted in intensive care unit. This study aimed to explore the factors predicting mortality in patients with scrub typhus requiring both ventilator and vasopressor support in our set up. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 43 patients with scrub typhus (ELISA IgM positive, optical density ?0.5) admitted in Medical Intensive Care unit of Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital between April 2016 to September 2017 was performed considering recovery or death (poor outcome) as outcome measurement. Potential variables (p<0.25) from bivariate analysis were used to perform a multivariate logistic regression analysis (p<0.10) to predict mortality. RESULTS: The mortality rate was 56% (24/43). Acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock were observed in all 43 patients. The median (IQR) duration of ventilation use and vasopressor use was 53(101) hours and 48(79.5) hours, respectively. On bivariate analysis, an independent and statistically significant association of mortality with age in years (p=0.039), number of vasopressor use (p<0.001) and serum creatinine more than 1.4 mg/dl (p=0.012) was observed and on multivariate regression analysis, these variables were also the predictors of mortality (age in years: p=0.011, ?=0.115, OR=1.211, 95% CI=1.027-1.225; number of vasopressor use: p=0.009, ?=3.705, OR=40.647, 95% CI=2.532-652.425; serum creatinine more than 1.4 mg/dl: p=0.046, ?=-2.205, OR=0.110, 95% CI=0.013-0.961) Conclusions: In scrub typhus with ARDS and septic shock, increasing age and serum creatinine, and requiring more than one vasopressor to maintain blood pressure are at increased risk of mortality.

Outcomes of deprescribing interventions in older patients with life-limiting illness and limited life expectancy: A systematic review.

AIMS: Older patients with life-limiting illness (LLI) and limited life expectancy (LLE) continue to receive potentially inappropriate medicines, consequently deprescribing is often necessary. However, deprescribing in this population can be complex and challenging. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the evidence for outcomes of deprescribing interventions in older patients with LLI and LLE. METHODS: Studies on deprescribing intervention and their outcomes in age ≥65 years with LLI and LLE were searched using PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO and Google Scholar. Medication appropriateness was primary outcome, while clinical and cost-related outcomes were secondary. Eligibility, data extraction and quality assessment were followed by a narrative synthesis of data. RESULTS: Of 9 studies (1375 participants), 3 reported on primary outcome. One study showed a significant reduction in medication inappropriateness by 34.9% (P < .001) from admission to close-out, the second achieved 29.4% (P < .001) and 15.1% (P = .003) reduction at 12 and 24 months, respectively. The third reported that their intervention stopped (17.2%) and altered the dose (2.6%) of high-risk medications. Commonly reported clinical outcomes were mortality (n = 3), quality of life (n = 2) and falls (n = 2). Outcomes in terms of cost were reported as overall cost (n = 2), medication cost (n = 1) and health care expenditure (n = 1). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that deprescribing in older patients with LLI and LLE can improve medication appropriateness, and has potential for enhancement of several clinical outcomes and cost savings, but the evidence needs to be better established.