Association of conflicting information from healthcare providers and poor shared decision making with suboptimal adherence in direct oral anticoagulant treatment: A cross-sectional study in patients with atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) adherence and to determine possible determinants for suboptimal adherence in Dutch patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Cross-sectional study of DOAC users who completed a self-reported questionnaire. Adherence was measured with Morisky8-item Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate determinants affecting adherence. RESULTS: 398 DOAC users completed the questionnaire (mean age 70.6 ± 9.2years). Approximately one in four patients had suboptimal adherence (MMAS-8 < 8). Multivariable analysis showed that patients who felt to have received conflicting information about the treatment, patients with higher educational level and patients who were not sufficiently involved in the treatment choice had a higher odds of suboptimal adherence. CONCLUSION: DOAC adherence was suboptimal. Conflicting information received from different healthcare providers (HCPs), lack of shared decision making and the patients' educational level were determinants negatively affecting DOAC adherence. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Efforts towards identifying suboptimally adherent DOAC patients are needed since they are at higher risk to develop thromboembolic events. Adherence counselling should be systematically and repeatedly encouraged and shared decision making should become more mainstream. Moreover, reinforced education of both patients and HCPs combined with interprofessional collaboration are potential solutions to prevent knowledge gaps and communication of conflicting information.

ADHD medication prescription: Effects of child, sibling, parent and general practice characteristics.

Many children receive attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication, but factors that determine medication prescription are largely unknown. This study aimed to determine the relative impact of factors on the child, family and general practitioner (GP) practice level on ADHD medication prescription. We included 1259 Dutch children aged 6-18 years with a diagnostic code of ADHD or related behavioural problems (ICPC codes P20-P22) in NIVEL primary care database. Using multilevel analyses, we examined predictors of ADHD medication prescription. Children diagnosed as 'hyperactive' were 16 times more likely to be prescribed ADHD medication than those with 'behavioural concerns'. Children with a parent or sibling receiving ADHD medication were three to four times more likely to be prescribed ADHD medication themselves. Children from GP practices with a high percentage of children with ADHD were twice as likely to be prescribed ADHD medication. Concluding, factors on the individual, family and GP practice level determine ADHD medication prescription. Future research into the decision-making process for ADHD medication is warranted.

Bridging differences in outcomes of pharmacoepidemiological studies: design and first results of the PROTECT project.

BACKGROUND: Observational pharmacoepidemiological (PE) studies on drug safety have produced discrepant results that may be due to differences in design, conduct and analysis. PURPOSE: The pharmacoepidemiology work-package (WP2) of the Pharmacoepidemiological Research on Outcomes of Therapeutics by a European ConsorTium (PROTECT) project aims at developing, testing and disseminating methodological standards for design, conduct and analysis of pharmacoepidemiological studies applicable to different safety issues using different databases across European countries. This article describes the selection of the safety issues and the description of the databases to be systematically studied. METHODS: Based on two consensus meetings and a literature search, we selected five drug-adverse event (AE) pairs to be evaluated in different databases. This selection was done according to pre-defined criteria such as regulatory and public health impact, and the potential to investigate a broad range of methodological issues. RESULTS: The selected drug-AE pairs are: 1) inhaled long-acting beta-2 agonists and acute myocardial infarction; 2) antimicrobials and acute liver injury; 3) antidepressants and/or benzodiazepines and hip fracture; 4) anticonvulsants and suicide/suicide attempts; and 5) calcium channel blockers and malignancies. Six European databases, that will be used to evaluate the drug-AE pairs retrospectively, are also described. CONCLUSION: The selected drug-AE pairs will be evaluated in PE studies using common protocols. Based on consistencies and discrepancies of these studies, a framework for guiding methodological choices will be developed. This will increase the usefulness and reliability of PE studies for benefit-risk assessment and decision-making.