Discrepancy in medications reported by elderly patients in the dental office and in their electronic medical records: A pilot study.

AIMS: This study's main objective was to analyze the discrepancy between the dental medication record (DMR) and the physician-prescribed active medications recorded in the medical medication record (MMR). METHODS: The study group consisted of 100 adults who attended the University Dental Clinic (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) requesting dental care. A dental history was created for all participants that included the DMR. The MMR were compiled from their electronic medical records. RESULTS: About 80% of the patients consumed at least one drug (94.2% of those >65 years) and 19% took more than five drugs (26.4% of those > 65 years). In total, 54% of the patients had some discrepancy between the medications recorded in the DMR and those in the MMR (48.4% for those ≤65 years and 64.7% for those >65 years). The rate of participants who omitted some drugs was higher for those >65 years. The drugs most omitted from the DMR were analgesics/opioids, antihypertensives and anxiolytics/hypnotics/sedatives. CONCLUSIONS: It is imperative to access the MMR of patients requesting dental care because a significant number of medications are not reflected in their DMR. These discrepancies may be particularly common and relevant in elderly patients, in whom multimorbidity and polypharmacy are more frequent.

Frank's Sign and Cardiovascular Risk: An Observational Descriptive Study.

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to analyze the relationship between the diagonal earlobe crease and the main indices of cardiovascular risk, considering the crease's anatomical variations. METHODS: The study group consisted of 1050 adults residing in Spain. Participants underwent the following determinations: age, sex, body mass index, smoking habit, blood pressure, glycemia, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular risk was calculated applying the Framingham-Anderson equation, the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation equation, and the Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score calculator. Both earlobes were examined, recording diagonal earlobe crease presence, length and depth, and presence of accessory creases. Results were analyzed by using chi-square test, Student's t test, analysis of variance, and Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis tests. To extract the functions of cardiovascular risk, a script in R was created (https://cran.r-project.org/). RESULTS: The estimated cardiovascular mortality risk was significantly higher in individuals who presented diagonal earlobe crease (P < .001). The number of individuals with moderate, high, or very high cardiovascular risk increased significantly as the presence of the crease increased (23.8% had no crease, 35.6% had unilateral creases, and 58% had bilateral creases; P < .001). The mean cardiovascular risk estimated was significantly higher for individuals with longest and deepest diagonal earlobe crease (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively), and with accessory creases (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The diagonal earlobe crease is independently associated with higher cardiovascular risk scores, especially when the crease is complete, bilateral, deep, and has accessory creases.