Polypharmacy and medication regimen complexity in older patients with hemophilia or von willebrand disease: the M'HEMORRH-AGE study.

BACKGROUND: In older patients, multiple chronic conditions lead topolypharmacy which is associated with a higher risk of adverse drug events. Nowadays, the medication exposure of older patients with bleeding disorders has been poorly explored. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of polypharmacy and the medication regimen complexity in older community-dwelling patients with hemophilia or von Willebrand Disease (VWD). METHOD: The M'HEMORRH-AGE study (Medication in AGEd patients with HEMORRHagic disease) is a multicenter prospective observational study. Community-dwelling patients over 65 years with hemophilia or VWD were included in the study. The rate of polypharmacy (use of 5 to 9 drugs daily) and excessive polypharmacy (use of 10 or more medications daily) was assessed. The complexity of prescribed medication regimens was assessed using the Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI). RESULTS: Overall, 142 older community-dwelling patients with hemophilia (n = 89) or VWD (n = 53) were included (mean age: 72.8 (5.8) years). Prevalence of polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy were 40.8% and 17.6%, respectively. The mean MRCI score was 16.9 (6.1). The mean MRCI score related to bleeding disorders medications was 6.9 (1.1). There was no significant difference between older hemophilia patients and VWD patients. CONCLUSION: The M'HEMORRH-AGE study showed that more than half of older community-dwelling patients were affected by polypharmacy. In addition, the high medication regimen complexity in this older population suggests that interventions focusing on medication review and deprescribing should be conducted to reduce polypharmacy with its negative health-related outcomes.

Potentially inappropriate medications and anticholinergic and sedative burden in older patients with haemophilia or von Willebrand disease: The M'HEMORRH-AGE study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: In older patients, multiple chronic conditions lead to the intake of multiple medications and a higher risk of adverse drug events. The exposure to inappropriate medications in older patients with bleeding disorders is poorly explored. The aim of this study was to describe the exposure to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and medications with anticholinergic and sedative properties in older community-dwelling patients with haemophilia or von Willebrand Disease (VWD). METHODS: The M'HEMORRH-AGE study (Medication in AGEd patients with HAEMORRHagic disease) is a multicentre prospective observational study. Community-dwelling patients over 65 years with haemophilia or VWD were included in the study. PIMs were identified using the EU(7)-PIM list, and the anticholinergic and sedative drug exposure was measured using the Drug Burden Index. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 142 older community-dwelling patients with haemophilia (n = 89) or VWD (n = 53) were included (mean age: 72.8 ± 5.8 years). PIMs were used by 45.8% of older patients and were mainly represented by cardiovascular (34.9%), nervous systems (26.7%) and alimentary tract and metabolism PIMs (25.6%). Regarding anticholinergic and/or sedative medications, 37.3% of older patients were exposed mainly due to nervous system medications (68.3%), for example analgesics. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The M'HEMORRH-AGE study showed the exposure to PIMs and anticholinergic/sedative medications was high in older community-dwelling patients with haemophilia or VWD. Interventions focusing on deprescription of these inappropriate medications should be conducted in this specific population.

Assessment of Prescriptions in Elderly Patients Hospitalized in Medicine Departments.

Drug-related iatrogenesis is an important issue in the elderly population, and preventing iatrogenic accidents helps to reduce hospitalizations. Our study's objective was to evaluate prescriptions in the geriatric population of our establishment. The study conducted is a targeted clinical audit. Ten criteria were tested on the hospital prescriptions of people over 75 years old in 11 medical departments, before and after improvement actions. The non-compliance threshold was set at 10% of prescriptions for each criterion. In each phase, 165 patients were included. Four criteria were non-compliant (NC) in the first phase: the presence of Potentially Inappropriate Medications for the Elderly (PIMs) (NC = 57.6%), the adaptation of the medication to renal clearance (NC = 24.9%), the presence of illogical combination (NC = 9.7%), and the total anti-cholinergic score of the prescription (NC = 12.1%). After the implementation of improvement actions, the number of non-compliant criteria decreased between the two phases, from four to two. We obtained a significant improvement for three of the four criteria found to be non-compliant in the first phase. The criterion adaptation to renal function is close to compliance (NC = 10.1%) and the PIMs criterion remained non-compliant after reassessment (NC = 32.1%). Vigilance must be ongoing in order to limit drug iatrogeny, particularly in frail elderly patients.

[Hemorrhage treatment: Evaluation of the proper use of fibrinogen concentrate]. / Prise en charge des chocs hémorragiques : évaluation du bon usage des concentrés de fibrinogène.

An increase in fibrinogen concentrate prescriptions was noticed in 2015 after several guidelines regarding their use were published. We tried to evaluate if they were used appropriately. To evaluate the conformity of the prescriptions to these guidelines, we searched for each prescription if a dosage of blood fibrinogen was made, if its result was below the limit recommended to prescribe fibrinogen concentrate, and if the posology was in line with the recommendations. Effect and security of the treatment was also evaluated. We analyzed 202 prescriptions for 117 patients. The indications are respected except for one prescription for which we could not find it. The blood fibrinogen is measured for 76% of the prescriptions, 59% of the results are below the limit recommended to prescribe. The posology is conforming to the guidelines for 73% of the prescriptions, it is below the dose recommended for 20%. Patients who were prescribed low doses seemed less at risk than the others which questions the necessity of the prescriptions. The guidelines respect depends on the emergency of the prescription situation. It would be interesting to conduct a prospective study to better explain why doses below those recommended are prescribed.