RESUMO
Admissions of the elderly related to medication errors are frequent in hospital, more than half would be avoidable, but there is currently no validated method in French to identify them. The objective of this work was to validate the French version of the AT-HARM10 tool in order to use it for patients admitted in our healthcare facilities. The tool has 10 questions. A positive response to any of the first 3 questions identify admissions that are unlikely to be drug-related. A positive response to one of the following 7 questions identify possible medication-related admissions. For semantic and linguistic validation, we performed cross-validation with forward-backward translation. To clinically validate the method, we conducted a retrospective study including patients over 65 admitted to short-stay units (UHCD) and to orthopedic surgery units in two French hospitals. Two hundred and sixty-six (266) patients were included ; 166 patients admitted to UHCD (mean age 86.0±5.7 years; sex ratio 0.66; mean number of drugs prescribed 7.7±3.8) and 100 patients admitted to orthopedic units (mean age 85.2±6.1 years; sex ratio 0.43; mean number of prescribed drugs 6.4±3.6). We identified 55 % of admissions probably related to medication in UHCD and 76 % in orthopedic units (p<0.05). The most represented item was P5 in both groups (Might [side] effects of the medications the patient was taking [prescribed or not prescribed] prior to hospitalization have caused the admission [including over-treatment] ? The validated AT-HARM10 tool is now integrated into our clinical pharmacy practices and medication reviews are offered as a priority to patients admitted for iatrogenic reasons.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: There is little agreement on what constitutes remission in anorexia nervosa. OBJECTIVE: This study compared the medical, psychological, and social status of 2 female populations previously treated for anorexia nervosa and differing in their achievement of normal weight. DESIGN: One hundred forty-one patients responded to a questionnaire documenting morphometric parameters, subjective perception of outcome, concerns about body shape and diet, and quality of familial, emotional, and professional life. Two groups were defined according to body mass index (BMI): normal (n = 69) with BMI > or = 18.5 kg/m(2), and subnormal (n = 72) with BMI < 18.5 kg/m(2). In addition, subgroups (21 in each category) were interviewed. An age-matched control population composed of 156 women, either students or Health Services employees, responded to a similar questionnaire. RESULTS: Only a minority of patients assessed themselves as recovered, and there was no statistically significant difference in perception of recovery between normal BMI and subnormal BMI groups (27.5% and 15.3%, respectively). As expected, underweight patients reported significantly more frequent purging behaviors, amenorrhea, recent hospitalization, and prolonged student status. In contrast, there were no significant differences in terms of pregnancy rate, psychiatric comorbidities, social integration, sexual activity, and self-assessment of professional and familial life. In comparison to control subjects, former anorexia patients with normalized BMI more frequently reported vomiting, fear of high-calorie foods, and treatment for depression. CONCLUSIONS: These few long-term advantages observed after BMI normalization suggest that normalization of nutritional status remains an important target in anorexia nervosa. However, the persistence of psychological distress after nutritional recovery confirms that more effective treatments are needed that target long-term psychological recovery.