Determinants of disease acceptance in renal transplantation patients assessed with the application of Acceptance Illness Scale (AIS).

PURPOSE: Kidney transplant patients require long-term pharmacotherapy with a significant risk of drug-related complications. The disease acceptance may significantly affect the effectiveness, safety, and patient adherence to their treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, for kidney transplantation patients, the essential determinants for better disease acceptance, and whether a clinical pharmacist may influence its degree. METHODS: The study involved 201 renal graft patients aged 18-81 years. The diagnostic survey method with the questionnaire of the Acceptance Illness Scale (AIS) and authors' query was used to obtain sociodemographic and co-morbidities data, the number of medications taken, the therapy cost, a patient needs for more attention from medical staff, and their willingness to cooperate with a clinical pharmacist. RESULTS: The largest group (55.2%) of patients demonstrated a high level of acceptance of their health. However, in every disease acceptance score range (low, medium, high), the score was statistically lower in patients over 50 years of age (c2=7.27, p=0.026), occupationally inactive (c2 =13.8, p<0.001), over 5 medicines taken (c2=7.77, p=0.020), and declaring too much expenditure on the therapy (c2=14.3, p<0.001). The assessment established a statistically significant negative correlation between the number of chronic conditions and the AIS score (R=-0.32, p<0.001). The lower number of coexisting chronic diseases the better disease acceptance. Moreover, patients reporting the need for more attention from the health service and willing to consult a pharmacist cope in a statistically significant way worse with accepting their health (c2=15.1 and p<0.001, c2=6.76 and p=0.034 respectively).  Conclusion: For post-transplantation patients, factors affecting the acceptance of illness should be taken into consideration while planning medical care. The reported need for professional assistance indicates necessity for establishing a multidisciplinary therapeutic team in which a clinical pharmacist should play a special role.

Interest in antibiotic pharmacokinetic modelling in the context of optimising dosing and reducing resistance: bibliometric analysis.

INTRODUCTION: In the era of problems with resistant bacteria strains, pharmacokinetic (PK) modelling offers ways to optimise antibiotic therapy and minimise the risk of resistance development. This bibliometric study aimed to investigate trends in PK modelling stu-dies. The goal was to provide researchers with comprehensive insight and identify future needs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace to analyse Web of Science articles on antibiotic PK modelling from 1983 to March 2023. RESULTS: We analysed 968 papers following the inclusion criteria and built a keywords co-occurrence map and timeline. The average annual growth rate of subject-related publications was 35.56% between 1983 and 2022, maintaining a continuous upward trend. Roberts J.A., Lipman J., and Wallis S.C. are the three most productive and impactful authors (82, 57, 34 articles, and h-index of 30, 25, 15, respectively). The United States leads in this field of research (29.13% of papers). The most relevant affiliations are the University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, and Monash University. The top three most productive and impactful journals are Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, and International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (181, 83, 47 articles and h-index of 42, 30, 18, respectively). Most articles by keyword clustered on meropenem, vancomycin, and amikacin. Moreover, therapeutic drug monitoring, resistance, antibiotic dosing, target attainment, the intensive care unit, and paediatrics are the most trending aspects. CONCLUSIONS: Given the results of this study, we expect to see a steady increase in interest in exploiting the potential of PK modelling for optimising antibiotic therapy.

Potential drug-drug interactions analysis in Polish pediatric pneumonology units, including cystic fibrosis patients.

The lack of data on drug-drug interactions in pediatrics represents a relevant problem in making appropriate therapeutic decisions. Our study aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors for potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in pediatric pneumonology units, including cystic fibrosis patients. We performed a 6-month prospective observational study during which clinical pharmacists, using the Lexicomp Drug Interactions checker, screened medical records to identify pDDIs. Spearman's rank coefficient, logistic regression, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to identify correlations, analyze risk factors for pDDIs, and compare cystic fibrosis patients with the rest, respectively. Recommendations were provided for the D and X pDDIs categories. Within the 218 patients, 428 pDDIs were identified, out of which 237 were classified as clinically significant. Almost 60% of patients were exposed to at least one relevant interaction. The number of pDDIs correlated with the number of; drugs (rs = 0.53, P <  .001), hospitalization length (rs = 0.20, P <  .01), and off-label medicines (rs = 0.25, P <  .001). According to the multivariate analysis, at least 6 administered medications (OR = 4.15; 95% CI = 2.21-7.78), 4 days of hospitalization (OR = 6.41; 95% CI = 2.29-17.97), and off-label therapy (OR = 3.37; 95% CI = 1.69-6.70) were the risk factor for pDDIs. Despite significant differences in the number of medications taken, comorbidities, and off-label drugs, cystic fibrosis patients were not more exposed to pDDI. Given the lack of data on pDDIs in the pediatric population, the need for close cooperation between clinicians and clinical pharmacists to improve the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy is highlighted.