Hospitalizations of older people in an emergency department related to potential medication-induced hyperactive delirium: a cross-sectional study.

Background Although delirium is one of the most common adverse drug reactions observed in hospitalized older people, it remains underdiagnosed. Aim To estimate the prevalence of hospitalization of older people with potential medication-induced hyperactive delirium in the emergency department (ED); to identify the risk factors and the medicines frequently associated with the occurrence of the syndrome. Method A cross-sectional, retrospective study was performed with older people (age ≥ 60) admitted in 2018 to a Brazilian ED. The hospitalizations with suspected hyperactive delirium were screened with the aid of trigger-tools: International Code of Diseases-10th Revision, intra-hospital prescriptions of antipsychotics, and trigger-words related to the syndrome. A chart-review and medication review were developed to establish the causality assessment between adverse event and medicine. Logistic regression was used to determine risk factors for occurrence. Results Among the hospitalizations included, 67.5% (193/286) were screened by at least one trigger-tool. Of these, potential medication-induced hyperactive delirium was observed in 26.0% (50/193). The prevalence estimated in the ward was 17.5% (50/286). Opioids (31.9%), benzodiazepines (18.8%) and corticosteroids (10.6%) were the commonest medicines associated with delirium. Long-lived patients (p = 0.005), potentially inappropriate medicines (PIMs) (p = 0.025), and high weighted deliriogenic load (p = 0.014) were associated with potential medication-induced hyperactive delirium. Conclusion Approximately one in six hospitalizations of older people in the ED showed potential medication-induced hyperactive delirium. Data suggest PIMs and high weighted deliriogenic load, rather than polypharmacy or anticholinergic burden, are considered the most important characteristics of pharmacotherapy associated with avoidable hyperactive delirium among long-lived patients.

'What is not written does not exist': the importance of proper documentation of medication use history.

Medications are perceived as health risk factors, because they might cause damage if used improperly. In this context, an adequate assessment of medication use history should be encouraged, especially in transitions of care to avoid unintended medication discrepancies (UMDs). In a case-controlled study, we investigated potential risk factors for UMDs at hospital admission and found that 150 (42%) of the 358 patients evaluated had one or more UMDs. We were surprised to find that there was no record of a patient and/or relative interview on previous use of medication in 117 medical charts of adult patients (44.8%). Similarly, in the medical charts of 52 (53.6%) paediatric patients, there was no record of parents and/or relatives interviews about prior use of medications. One hundred thirty-seven medical charts of adult patients (52.4%) and seventy-two medical charts of paediatric patients (74.2%) had no record about medication allergies and intolerances. In other words, there was a lack of basic documentation regarding the patient's medication use history. As patients move between settings in care, there is insufficient tracking of verbal and written information related to medication changes, which results in a progressive and cumulative loss of information, as evidenced by problems associated with clinical transfers and medication orders. Proper documentation of medication information during transfer is a key step in the procedure; hence, it should be rightly performed. It remains unclear whether interviews, and other investigations about medication use history have been performed but have not been recorded as health-care data. Therefore, it is crucial to the improvement of medication use safety that documentation of all drug-related information-even if not directly related to the actual event-become routine practice in health-care organizations, since 'what is not written does not exist'.

Evaluation of pharmacotherapy complexity in residents of long-term care facilities: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Polypharmacy is a reality in long-term care facilities. However, number of medications used by the patient should not be the only predictor of a complex pharmacotherapy. Although the level of complexity of pharmacotherapy is considered an important factor that may lead to side effects, there are few studies in this field. The aim of this study was to evaluate the complexity of pharmacotherapy in residents of three long-term care facilities. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the complexity of pharmacotherapy using the protocols laid out in the Medication Regimen Complexity Index instrument in three long-term care facilities in northeastern Brazil. As a secondary result, potential drug interactions, potentially inappropriate medications, medication duplication, and polypharmacy were evaluated. After the assessment, the association among these variables and the Medication Regimen Complexity Index was performed. RESULTS: In this study, there was a higher prevalence of women (64.4%) with a high mean age among the study population of 81.8 (±9.7) years. The complexity of pharmacotherapy obtained a mean of 15.1 points (±9.8), with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 59. The highest levels of complexity were associated with dose frequency, with a mean of 5.5 (±3.6), followed by additional instructions of use averaging 4.9 (±3.7) and by the dosage forms averaging 4.6 (±3.0). CONCLUSIONS: The present study evaluated some factors that complicate the pharmacotherapy of geriatric patients. Although polypharmacy was implicated as a factor directly related to complexity, other indicators such as drug interactions, potentially inappropriate medications, and therapeutic duplication can also make the use of pharmacotherapy in such patients more difficult.