Validating use of diagnostic codes in Canadian administrative data for identification of adverse drug events.

AIMS: While diagnostic codes from administrative health data might be a valuable source to identify adverse drug events (ADEs), their ability to identify unintended harms remains unclear. We validated claims-based diagnosis codes for ADEs based on events identified in a prospective cohort study and assessed whether key attributes predicted their documentation in administrative data. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of 3 prospective cohorts in British Columbia, from 2008 to 2015 (n = 13 969). We linked prospectively identified ADEs to administrative insurance data to examine the sensitivity and specificity of different diagnostic code schemes. We used logistic regression to assess which key attributes (e.g., type of event, symptoms and culprit medications) were associated with better documentation of ADEs in administrative data. RESULTS: Among 1178 diagnosed events, the sensitivity of the diagnostic codes in administrative data ranged from 3.4 to 52.6%, depending on the database and codes used. We found that documentation was worse for certain types of ADEs (dose-related: odds ratio [OR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15, 0.69; nonadherence events (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.62), and better for those experiencing arrhythmias (OR: 4.19, 95% CI: 0.96, 18.28). CONCLUSION: ADEs were not well documented in administrative data. Alternative methods should be explored to capture ADEs for health research.

Validating methods used to identify non-adherence adverse drug events in Canadian administrative health data.

AIMS: Medication non-adherence is a type of adverse drug event that can lead to untreated and exacerbated chronic illness, and that drives healthcare utilization. Research using medication claims data has attempted to identify instances of medication non-adherence using the proportion of days covered or by examining gaps between medication refills. We sought to validate these measures compared to a gold standard diagnosis of non-adherence made in hospital. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of adverse drug events diagnosed during three prospective cohorts in British Columbia between 2008 and 2015 (n = 976). We linked prospectively identified adverse drug events to medication claims data to examine the sensitivity and specificity of typical non-adherence measures. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the non-adherence measures ranged from 22.4% to 37.5%, with a proportion of days covered threshold of 95% performing the best; the non-persistence measures had sensitivities ranging from 10.4% to 58.3%. While a 7-day gap was most sensitive, it classified 61.2% of the sample as non-adherent, whereas only 19.6% were diagnosed as such in hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The methods used to identify non-adherence in administrative databases are not accurate when compared to a gold standard diagnosis by healthcare providers. Research that has relied on administrative data to identify non-adherent patients both underestimates the magnitude of the problem and may label patients as non-adherent who were in fact adherent.

Revisiting the Calculation for a Novel Measure of Average Lifespan Shortened: Real-World Examples From Cervical and Ovarian Cancers in Alberta, Canada, 2000 - 2020.

In this technical note, we primarily demonstrate the computation of confidence limits for a novel measure of average lifespan shortened (ALSS). We identified women who had died from cervical and ovarian cancer between 2000 and 2020 from the Alberta cancer registry. Years of life lost (YLL) was calculated using the national life tables of Canada. We estimated the ALSS as a ratio of YLL in relation to the expected lifespan. We computed the confidence limits of the measure using various approaches, including the normal distribution, gamma distribution, and bootstrap method. The new ALSS measure shows a modest gain in lifespan of women, particularly women with ovarian cancer, over the study period.

The Utility of Different Data Standards to Document Adverse Drug Event Symptoms and Diagnoses: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Existing systems to document adverse drug events often use free text data entry, which produces nonstandardized and unstructured data that are prone to misinterpretation. Standardized terminology may improve data quality; however, it is unclear which data standard is most appropriate for documenting adverse drug event symptoms and diagnoses. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the utility, strengths, and weaknesses of different data standards for documenting adverse drug event symptoms and diagnoses. METHODS: We performed a mixed methods substudy of a multicenter retrospective chart review. We reviewed the research records of prospectively diagnosed adverse drug events at 5 Canadian hospitals. A total of 2 pharmacy research assistants independently entered the symptoms and diagnoses for the adverse drug events using four standards: Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA), Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) Clinical Terms, SNOMED Adverse Reaction (SNOMED ADR), and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 11th Revision. Disagreements between research assistants regarding the case-specific utility of data standards were discussed until a consensus was reached. We used consensus ratings to determine the proportion of adverse drug events covered by a data standard and coded and analyzed field notes from the consensus sessions. RESULTS: We reviewed 573 adverse drug events and found that MedDRA and ICD-11 had excellent coverage of adverse drug event symptoms and diagnoses. MedDRA had the highest number of matches between the research assistants, whereas ICD-11 had the fewest. SNOMED ADR had the lowest proportion of adverse drug event coverage. The research assistants were most likely to encounter terminological challenges with SNOMED ADR and usability challenges with ICD-11, whereas least likely to encounter challenges with MedDRA. CONCLUSIONS: Usability, comprehensiveness, and accuracy are important features of data standards for documenting adverse drug event symptoms and diagnoses. On the basis of our results, we recommend the use of MedDRA.

Using ActionADE to create information continuity to reduce re-exposures to harmful medications: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Repeat exposures to culprit medications are a common cause of preventable adverse drug events. Health information technologies have the potential to reduce repeat adverse drug events by improving information continuity. However, they rarely interoperate to ensure providers can view adverse drug events documented in other systems. We designed ActionADE to enable rapid documentation of adverse drug events and communication of standardized information across health sectors by integrating with legacy systems. We will leverage ActionADE's implementation to conduct two parallel, randomized trials: patients with adverse drug reactions in the main trial and those diagnosed with non-adherence in a secondary trial. Primary objective of the main trial is to evaluate the effects of providing information continuity about adverse drug reactions on culprit medication re-dispensations over 12 months. Primary objective of the secondary trial is to evaluate the effect of providing information continuity on adherence over 12 months. METHODS: We will conduct two parallel group, triple-blind randomized controlled trials in participating hospitals in British Columbia, Canada. We will enroll adults presenting to hospital with an adverse drug event to prescribed outpatient medication. Clinicians will document the adverse drug event in ActionADE. The software will use an algorithm to determine patient eligibility and allocate eligible patients to experimental or control. In the experimental arm, ActionADE will transmit information to PharmaNet, where adverse drug event information will be displayed in community pharmacies when re-dispensations are attempted. In the control arm, ActionADE will retain information in the local record. We will enroll 3600 adults with an adverse drug reaction into the main trial. The main trial's primary outcome is re-dispensation of a culprit or same-class medication within 12 months; the secondary trial's primary outcome will be adherence to culprit medication. Secondary outcomes include health services utilization and mortality. DISCUSSION: These studies have the potential to guide policy decisions and investments needed to drive health information technology integrations to prevent repeat adverse drug events. We present an example of how a health information technology implementation can be leveraged to conduct pragmatic randomized controlled trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04568668 , NCT04574648 . Registered on 1 October 2020.

Emergency department-based medication review on outpatient health services utilization: interrupted time series.

BACKGROUND: One in nine emergency department (ED) visits in Canada are caused by adverse drug events, the unintended and harmful effects of medication use. Medication reviews by clinical pharmacists are interventions designed to optimize medications and address adverse drug events to impact patient outcomes. However, the effect of medication reviews on long-term outpatient health services utilization is not well understood. This research studied the effect of medication review performed by clinical pharmacists on long-term outpatient health services utilization. METHODS: Data included information from 10,783 patients who were part of a prospective, multi-centre quality improvement evaluation from 2011 to 2013. Outpatient health services utilization was defined as total ED visits and physician contacts, aggregated to four physician specialty groups: general and family practitioners (GP); medical specialists; surgical specialists; and imaging and laboratory specialists. During triage, patients deemed high-risk based on their medical history, were systematically allocated to receive either a medication review (n = 6403) or the standard of care (n = 4380). Medication review involved a critical examination of a patient's medications to identify and resolve medication-related problems and communicate these results to community care providers. Interrupted time series analysis compared the effect of the intervention on health services utilization relative to the standard of care controlling for pre-intervention differences in utilization. RESULTS: ED-based pharmacist-led medication review did not result in a significant level or trend change in the primary outcome of total outpatient health services utilization. There were also no differences in the secondary outcomes of primary care physician visits or ED visits relative to the standard of care in the 12 months following the intervention. Our findings were consistent when stratified by age, hospital site, and whether patients were discharged on their index visit. CONCLUSION: This was the first study to measure long-term trends of physician visits following an ED-based medication review. The lack of differences in level and trend of GP and ED visits suggest that pharmacist recommendations may not have been adequately communicated to community-based providers, and/or recommendations may not have affected health care delivery. Future studies should evaluate physician acceptance of pharmacist recommendations and should encourage patient follow-up to community providers.

Relationship between GP visits and time spent in-hospital among insulin-dependent Canadians with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether higher frequency of GP visits among insulin-dependent patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with reduced hospitalizations. DESIGN: Nationally representative study using data from the 2013-2014 cycle of the Canadian Community Health Survey. SETTING: Canada. PARTICIPANTS: A study sample comprising 2203 insulin-dependent Canadians with type 2 diabetes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The relationship between GP visits (no visits, 1-5 visits, ≥ 6 visits) in the past year and the number of nights spent in-hospital. Zero-inflated negative binomial Poisson regression models were used to account for overdispersion and excess zeros. RESULTS: Higher numbers of GP visits were associated with spending fewer nights in-hospital. Patients with 1 to 5 GP visits had a significantly lower number of nights spent in-hospital (rate ratio of 0.38, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.56), as did those with 6 or more GP visits (rate ratio of 0.57, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.84) despite having reduced odds of not being hospitalized (odds ratio of 0.62, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.95), compared with those who did not see a GP in the past year, after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSION: We found that insulin-dependent patients with diabetes who saw GPs more frequently were hospitalized less commonly compared with those who did not see a GP in the past year. Further research is needed to examine relationships with other types of follow-up, ideally using a longitudinal design.

Preventable adverse drug events: Descriptive epidemiology.

AIM: Our objective was to identify preventable adverse drug events and factors contributing to their development. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review combining data from three prospective multicentre observational studies that assessed emergency department patients for adverse drug events. A clinical pharmacist and physician independently reviewed the charts, extracted data and rated the preventability of each adverse drug event. A third reviewer adjudicated all discordant or uncertain cases. We calculated the proportion of adverse drug events that were deemed preventable, performed multivariable logistic regression to explore the characteristics of patients with preventable events, and identified contributing factors. RESULTS: We reviewed the records of 1 356 adverse drug events in 1 234 patients. Raters considered 869 (64.1%) of adverse drug events probably or definitely preventable. Patients with mental health diagnoses (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.3-2.5) and diabetes (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.2-2.4) were more likely to present with preventable events. The medications most commonly implicated in preventable events were warfarin (9.4%), hydrochlorothiazide (4.5%), furosemide (4.0%), insulin (3.9%) and acetylsalicylic acid (2.7%). Common contributing factors included inadequate patient instructions, monitoring and follow-up, and reassessments after medication changes had been made. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that patients with mental health conditions and diabetes require close monitoring. Efforts to address the identified contributing factors are needed.

Repeat adverse drug events associated with outpatient medications: a descriptive analysis of 3 observational studies in British Columbia, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug events are an important cause of preventable emergency department visits and hospital admissions. We examined repeat adverse drug events associated with outpatient medications resulting in acute care utilization. METHODS: This descriptive analysis combined data from 3 prospective multicentre observational studies, in which clinical pharmacists and physicians independently evaluated patients who visited the emergency department for adverse drug events in 3 hospitals in British Columbia. During these studies, an independent committee adjudicated all discordant and uncertain cases using a standardized algorithm. For the current study, we retrospectively reviewed the medical and research records of all patients 19 years of age and older who had been diagnosed with an adverse drug event during the primary studies to determine the proportion of repeat events. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with repeat events; we adjusted for clustering at the hospital level for patient-level analyses and at the patient level for event-level analyses. RESULTS: Among 12 977 patients, 1178 were diagnosed with 1296 adverse drug events at the point of care. Of these events, 32.5% (421 of 1296; 95% confidence interval [CI] 29.8%-35.1%) were repeat events, of which 75.3% (317 of 421; 95% CI 71.1%-79.5%) were deemed probably or definitely preventable as re-exposure to the culprit medication or repeat withdrawal of an indicated medication was inconsistent with best medical practice. Patients presenting with repeat events were more likely to have renal failure (odds ratio [OR] 2.01; 95% CI 1.32%-3.07%) or a mental health diagnosis (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.02%-1.88%). INTERPRETATION: A high proportion of adverse drug events were repeat events, most of which were deemed preventable. Interventions to ensure that care providers are aware of previously diagnosed adverse drug events when prescribing or dispensing need to be developed and evaluated and may reduce unintentional re-exposures to previously harmful medications.

Methods for evaluating adverse drug event preventability in emergency department patients.

BACKGROUND: There is a high degree of variability in assessing the preventability of adverse drug events, limiting the ability to compare rates of preventable adverse drug events across different studies. We compared three methods for determining preventability of adverse drug events in emergency department patients and explored their strengths and weaknesses. METHODS: This mixed-methods study enrolled emergency department patients diagnosed with at least one adverse drug event from three prior prospective studies. A clinical pharmacist and physician reviewed the medical and research records of all patients, and independently rated each event's preventability using a "best practice-based" approach, an "error-based" approach, and an "algorithm-based" approach. Raters discussed discordant ratings until reaching consensus. We assessed the inter-rater agreement between clinicians using the same assessment method, and between different assessment methods using Cohen's kappa with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Qualitative researchers observed discussions, took field notes, and reviewed free text comments made by clinicians in a "comment" box in the data collection form. We developed a coding structure and iteratively analyzed qualitative data for emerging themes regarding the application of each preventability assessment method using NVivo. RESULTS: Among 1356 adverse drug events, a best practice-based approach rated 64.1% (95% CI: 61.5-66.6%) of events as preventable, an error-based approach rated 64.3% (95% CI: 61.8-66.9%) of events as preventable, and an algorithm-based approach rated 68.8% (95% CI: 66.1-71.1%) of events as preventable. When applying the same method, the inter-rater agreement between clinicians was 0.53 (95% CI: 0.48-0.59), 0.55 (95%CI: 0.50-0.60) and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.49-0.55) for the best practice-, error-, and algorithm-based approaches, respectively. The inter-rater agreement between different assessment methods using consensus ratings for each ranged between 0.88 (95% CI 0.85-0.91) and 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-1.00). Compared to a best practice-based assessment, clinicians believed the algorithm-based assessment was too rigid. It did not account for the complexities of and variations in clinical practice, and frequently was too definitive when assigning preventability ratings. CONCLUSION: There was good agreement between all three methods of determining the preventability of adverse drug events. However, clinicians found the algorithmic approach constraining, and preferred a best practice-based assessment method.

Prospective Validation of Clinical Criteria to Identify Emergency Department Patients at High Risk for Adverse Drug Events.

OBJECTIVES: Adverse drug events (ADEs) cause or contribute to one in nine emergency department (ED) presentations in North America and are often misdiagnosed. EDs have insufficient clinical pharmacists to complete medication reviews in all incoming patients, even though pharmacist-led medications reviews have been associated with improved health outcomes. Our objective was to validate clinical decision rules to identify patients presenting with ADEs so they could be prioritized for pharmacist-led medication review. METHODS: This multicenter, prospective study was conducted in two tertiary and one community hospital in Canada. We enrolled 1,529 adults presenting to EDs over 12 months. We applied two clinical decision rules and collected baseline variables prior to assessments by clinical pharmacists and physicians. We compared the physician and pharmacist diagnoses with the decision rule results. The primary outcome was a moderate or severe ADE, defined as an unintended and harmful event related to medication use or misuse, which required a change in medical therapy, diagnostic testing, consultation, or admission. An independent committee adjudicated uncertain and discordant cases. We calculated the diagnostic accuracy of both rules. RESULTS: Among 1,529 patients, 184 (12.0%) were diagnosed with an ADE. Rule 1 contained the variables 1) having a preexisting medical condition or having taken antibiotics within 1 week and 2) age > 80 years or having a medication change within 28 days. They had a sensitivity of 91.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 86.3%-95.0%) and a specificity of 37.9% (95% CI = 35.3%-40.6%) for ADEs. CONCLUSIONS: Our study validated clinical decision rules that can be applied by clinical pharmacists to limit the number of patients requiring medication review, while identifying the majority of patients presenting with clinically significant ADEs.

Incidence of clinically relevant medication errors in the era of electronically prepopulated medication reconciliation forms: a retrospective chart review.

BACKGROUND: To reduce medication discrepancies (unintended differences between a patient's outpatient and inpatient medication regimens), Canadian institutions have implemented medication reconciliation forms that are prepopulated with outpatient medication dispensing data. These may prompt prescribers to reorder discontinued medications or continue newly contraindicated medications. Our objective was to evaluate the incidence of medication discrepancies and errors of commission after the implementation of such forms. METHODS: This retrospective chart review included patients previously enrolled in an observational study in which a research pharmacist prospectively collected best-possible medication histories in the emergency department. Research assistants uninvolved with the parent study compared medication orders written in the first 48 hours after admission with the research pharmacist's best-possible medication history to identify medication discrepancies and errors of commission, defined as inappropriate medication continuations and reordering of previously stopped medications. An independent panel adjudicated the clinical significance of the errors. RESULTS: Of 151 patients, 71 (47.0% [95% confidence interval (CI) 39.2-54.9]) were exposed to 112 medication errors on admission. Of the 112 errors, 24 (21.4% [95% CI 14.9-29.9]) were clinically significant. Errors of commission accounted for 24.1% (27/112 [95% CI 17.3-32.8]) of all errors; 10 (37.0% [95% CI 18.8-55.2]) of the errors of commission were clinically significant. INTERPRETATION: Medication errors were common after the implementation of electronically prepopulated medication reconciliation forms. Prospective research is required to examine the impact of prepopulated medication reconciliation forms and ensure they do not facilitate errors of commission.

Designing Novel Health ICTs to Support Work, Not Generate It: Five Principles.

In this paper, we offer five principles to inform how health ICT designers and healthcare organizations address and mitigate issues relating to clinician documentation burden. We draw on our experience and empirical work designing an ICT intervention, ActionADE, to illustrate how our team developed and will use these principles to ease documentation burden for clinician-users.

Impact of early in-hospital medication review by clinical pharmacists on health services utilization.

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug events are a leading cause of emergency department visits and unplanned admissions, and prolong hospital stays. Medication review interventions aim to identify adverse drug events and optimize medication use. Previous evaluations of in-hospital medication reviews have focused on interventions at discharge, with an unclear effect on health outcomes. We assessed the effect of early in-hospital pharmacist-led medication review on the health outcomes of high-risk patients. METHODS: We used a quasi-randomized design to evaluate a quality improvement project in three hospitals in British Columbia, Canada. We incorporated a clinical decision rule into emergency department triage pathways, allowing nurses to identify patients at high-risk for adverse drug events. After randomly selecting the first eligible patient for participation, clinical pharmacists systematically allocated subsequent high-risk patients to medication review or usual care. Medication review included obtaining a best possible medication history and reviewing the patient's medications for appropriateness and adverse drug events. The primary outcome was the number of days spent in-hospital over 30 days, and was ascertained using administrative data. We used median and inverse propensity score weighted logistic regression modeling to determine the effect of pharmacist-led medication review on downstream health services use. RESULTS: Of 10,807 high-risk patients, 6,416 received early pharmacist-led medication review and 4,391 usual care. Their baseline characteristics were balanced. The median number of hospital days was reduced by 0.48 days (95% confidence intervals [CI] = 0.00 to 0.96; p = 0.058) in the medication review group compared to usual care, representing an 8% reduction in the median length of stay. Among patients under 80 years of age, the median number of hospital days was reduced by 0.60 days (95% CI = 0.06 to 1.17; p = 0.03), representing 11% reduction in the median length of stay. There was no significant effect on emergency department revisits, admissions, readmissions, or mortality. LIMITATIONS: We were limited by our inability to conduct a randomized controlled trial, but used quasi-random patient allocation methods and propensity score modeling to ensure balance between treatment groups, and administrative data to ensure blinded outcomes ascertainment. We were unable to account for alternate level of care days, and therefore, may have underestimated the treatment effect in frail elderly patients who are likely to remain in hospital while awaiting long-term care. CONCLUSIONS: Early pharmacist-led medication review was associated with reduced hospital-bed utilization compared to usual care among high-risk patients under 80 years of age, but not among those who were older. The results of our evaluation suggest that medication review by pharmacists in the emergency department may impact the length of hospital stay in select patient populations.

Designing an Adverse Drug Event Reporting System to Prevent Unintentional Reexposures to Harmful Drugs: Study Protocol for a Multiple Methods Design.

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are unintended and harmful events related to medication use. Up to 30% of serious ADEs recur within six months because culprit drugs are unintentionally represcribed and redispensed. Improving the electronic communication of ADE information between care providers, and across care settings, has the potential to reduce recurrent ADEs. OBJECTIVE: We aim to describe the methods used to design Action ADE, a novel electronic ADE reporting system that can be leveraged to prevent unintentional reexposures to harmful drugs in British Columbia, Canada. METHODS: To develop the new system, our team will use action research and participatory design, approaches that employ social scientific research methods and practitioner participation to generate insights into work settings and problem resolution. We will develop a systematic search strategy to review existing ADE reporting systems identified in academic and grey literature, and analyze the content of these systems to identify core data fields used to communicate ADE information. We will observe care providers in the emergency departments and on the wards of two urban tertiary hospitals and one urban community hospital, in one rural ambulatory care center, and in three community pharmacies in British Columbia, Canada. We will also conduct participatory workshops with providers to understand their needs and priorities related to communicating ADEs and preventing erroneous represcribing or redispensing of culprit medications. These methods will inform the iterative development of a preliminary paper-based reporting form, which we will then pilot test with providers in a real-world setting. RESULTS: This is an ongoing project with results being published as analyses are completed. The systematic review has been completed; field observations, focus groups, and pilot testing of a preliminary paper-based design are ongoing. Results will inform the development of software that will enable clinically useful user-friendly documentation and communication of ADEs. CONCLUSIONS: We take this approach with the recognition that information technology-based solutions in health care often fall short of expectations as a result of designers' failure to account for organizational and work practice considerations, and the needs of end-users. We describe how integrating qualitative methods into an iterative participatory design process (planned in partnership with end-users) will allow us to address specific clinical needs, conceptualize linkages between systems, integrate the reporting system into clinicians' workflow, and design the system to optimize its uptake into practice.

Adverse drug event reporting systems: a systematic review.

AIM: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are harmful and unintended consequences of medications. Their reporting is essential for drug safety monitoring and research, but it has not been standardized internationally. Our aim was to synthesize information about the type and variety of data collected within ADE reporting systems. METHODS: We developed a systematic search strategy, applied it to four electronic databases, and completed an electronic grey literature search. Two authors reviewed titles and abstracts, and all eligible full-texts. We extracted data using a standardized form, and discussed disagreements until reaching consensus. We synthesized data by collapsing data elements, eliminating duplicate fields and identifying relationships between reporting concepts and data fields using visual analysis software. RESULTS: We identified 108 ADE reporting systems containing 1782 unique data fields. We mapped them to 33 reporting concepts describing patient information, the ADE, concomitant and suspect drugs, and the reporter. While reporting concepts were fairly consistent, we found variability in data fields and corresponding response options. Few systems clarified the terminology used, and many used multiple drug and disease dictionaries such as the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA). CONCLUSION: We found substantial variability in the data fields used to report ADEs, limiting the comparability of ADE data collected using different reporting systems, and undermining efforts to aggregate data across cohorts. The development of a common standardized data set that can be evaluated with regard to data quality, comparability and reporting rates is likely to optimize ADE data and drug safety surveillance.

The effect of early in-hospital medication review on health outcomes: a systematic review.

AIMS: Adverse drug events are an important cause of emergency department visits, unplanned admissions and prolonged hospital stays. Our objective was to synthesize the evidence on the effect of early in-hospital pharmacist-led medication review on patient-oriented outcomes based on observed data. METHODS: We systematically searched eight bibliographic reference databases, electronic grey literature, medical journals, conference proceedings, trial registries and bibliographies of relevant papers. We included studies that employed random or quasi-random methods to allocate subjects to pharmacist-led medication review or control. Medication review had to include, at a minimum, obtaining a best possible medication history and reviewing medications for appropriateness and adverse drug events. The intervention had to be initiated within 24 h of emergency department presentation or 72 h of admission. We extracted data in duplicate and pooled outcomes from clinically homogeneous studies of the same design using random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: We retrieved 4549 titles of which seven were included, reporting the outcomes of 3292 patients. We pooled data from studies of the same design, and found no significant differences in length of hospital admission (weighted mean difference [WMD] -0.04 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.63, 1.55), mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.09, 95% CI 0.69, 1.72), readmissions (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.81, 1.63) or emergency department revisits at 3 months (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.27, 1.32). Two large studies reporting reductions in readmissions could not be included in our pooled estimates due to differences in study design. CONCLUSIONS: Wide confidence intervals suggest that additional research is likely to influence the effect size estimates and clarify the effect of medication review on patient-oriented outcomes. This systematic review failed to identify an effect of pharmacist-led medication review on health outcomes.

The effect of ketamine on intracranial and cerebral perfusion pressure and health outcomes: a systematic review.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We synthesize the available evidence on the effect of ketamine on intracranial and cerebral perfusion pressures, neurologic outcomes, ICU length of stay, and mortality. METHODS: We developed a systematic search strategy and applied it to 6 electronic reference databases. We completed a gray literature search and searched medical journals as well as the bibliographies of relevant articles. We included randomized and nonrandomized prospective studies that compared the effect of ketamine with another intravenous sedative in intubated patients and reported at least 1 outcome of interest. Two authors independently performed title, abstract, and full-text reviews, and abstracted data from all studies, using standardized forms. Data from randomized controlled trials and prospective studies were synthesized in a qualitative manner because the study designs, patient populations, reported outcomes, and follow-up periods were heterogeneous. We used the Jadad score and Cochrane Risk of Bias tool to assess study quality. RESULTS: We retrieved 4,896 titles, of which 10 studies met our inclusion criteria, reporting data on 953 patients. One study was deemed at low risk of bias in all quality assessment domains. All others were at high risk in at least 1 domain. Two of 8 studies reported small reductions in intracranial pressure within 10 minutes of ketamine administration, and 2 studies reported an increase. None of the studies reported significant differences in cerebral perfusion pressure, neurologic outcomes, ICU length of stay, or mortality. CONCLUSION: According to the available literature, the use of ketamine in critically ill patients does not appear to adversely affect patient outcomes.

Maternal depressive symptoms during childhood and risky adolescent health behaviors.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal depression is a risk factor for adolescent depression; however, the effect of childhood exposure to maternal depression on adolescent engagement in health risk behaviors (eg, substance use, delinquency) is unclear. METHODS: We examined the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms (child's age 4-15) and engagement in health risk behaviors at age 16 to 17 by using data from 2910 mother-youth pairs in a nationally representative prospective Canadian cohort. Maternal depressive trajectories were estimated through finite mixture modeling, and multiple regression analyses examined the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and engagement in various health risk behaviors (linear regression) and age of debut of various behaviors (Cox regression). RESULTS: Five trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms were found: recurrent maternal symptoms, midchildhood exposure to maternal symptoms, adolescent exposure to maternal symptoms, mild maternal symptoms, and low symptoms. Adolescents exposed to maternal depressive symptoms during middle childhood were more likely to use common substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana), engage in violent and nonviolent delinquent behavior, and have an earlier debut ages of cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and hallucinogen use. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that exposure to maternal depressive symptoms, particularly in middle childhood, is associated with greater and earlier engagement in health risk behaviors.

Timing of first exposure to maternal depression and adolescent emotional disorder in a national Canadian cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Correlations have been reported between behavioral and cognitive outcomes in adolescence and exposure to maternal depression during the first postpartum year, but the effects of timing of maternal depression during subsequent exposure periods have rarely been controlled for. This study aims to methodically investigate the importance of timing of initial exposure to maternal depression with respect to adolescent mental health outcomes. METHODS: This study used data on 937 children from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY), a nationally-representative longitudinal survey established in 1994 by Statistics Canada. Ordinal logistic regression was used to confirm associations between adolescent emotional disorder (at 12-13 years) and initial exposure to maternal depression during 2-year intervals from birth to adolescence. Following their initial exposure to maternal depression, children were dropped from subsequent cycles. Stressful life events, chronic health conditions, maternal alcohol use, maternal marital status, gender, and SES were included as covariates. RESULTS: The results indicated that adolescents who were initially exposed to maternal depression between the ages of 2-3 years and 4-5 years had a two-fold increase in odds of emotional disorder. No increase in odds was observed in those initially exposed during the first postpartum year or later in childhood. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that a sensitive period of initial exposure to maternal depression may occur between the ages of 2 and 5, and not during the first year of life indicated by previous research. These findings are congruent with the literature on emotional and behavioral development in early childhood.