Search

Copyright of Journal of Diabetes is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Guideline‐based management of cardiovascular disease often involves prescribing multiple medications, which contributes to polypharmacy and risk for adverse drug events in older adults. Deprescribing is a potential strategy to mitigate these risks. We sought to characterize and compare clinician perspectives regarding deprescribing cardiovascular medications across three specialties. DESIGN: National cross‐sectional survey. SETTING: Ambulatory. PARTICIPANTS: Random sample of geriatricians, general internists, and cardiologists from the American College of Physicians. MEASUREMENTS: Electronic survey assessing clinical practice of deprescribing cardiovascular medications, reasons and barriers to deprescribing, and choice of medications to deprescribe in hypothetical clinical cases. RESULTS: In each specialty, 750 physicians were surveyed, with a response rate of 26% for geriatricians, 26% for general internists, and 12% for cardiologists. Over 80% of respondents within each specialty reported that they had recently considered deprescribing a cardiovascular medication. Adverse drug reactions were the most common reason for deprescribing for all specialties. Geriatricians also commonly reported deprescribing in the setting of limited life expectancy. Barriers to deprescribing were shared across specialties and included concerns about interfering with other physicians' treatment plans and patient reluctance. In hypothetical cases, over 90% of physicians in each specialty chose to deprescribe when patients experienced adverse drug reactions. Geriatricians were most likely and cardiologists were least likely to consider deprescribing cardiovascular medications in cases of limited life expectancy (all P <.001), such as recurrent metastatic cancer (84% of geriatricians, 68% of general internists, and 45% of cardiologists), Alzheimer dementia (92% of geriatricians, 81% of general internists, and 59% of cardiologists), or significant functional impairment (83% of geriatricians, 68% of general internists, and 45% of cardiologists). CONCLUSIONS: While barriers to deprescribing cardiovascular medications are shared across specialties, reasons for deprescribing, especially in the setting of limited life expectancy, varied. Implementing deprescribing will require improved processes for both physician‐physician and physician‐patient communication. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:78–86, 2019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deprescribing is a holistic process to identify medications that can be ceased, substituted or reduced. This process can improve the health of older patients and also enhance their compliance to the prescribed medications which are actually beneficial. Recommendations and guidelines have been elaborated for extensively prescribed drugs. In clinical cardiology the process of deprescribing is a challenge for doctors because of withdrawal-related adverse effects, but it may be applied in certain clinical conditions such as the discontinuation of statin prescription in patients with advanced senile dementia and those with limited life expectancy. Deprescribing is also focussed on the scarcely known effects of prolonged therapy after the acute phase of a disease is over, especially when continuation may signify potential life-long treatment. There needs to be collaboration between the consultant cardiologist who first prescribes medications and family doctors who are responsible for the long-term care of the patient and reviewing prescribed medications may be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis is the property of Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the pharmacy services provided to people taking psychotropic and cardiovascular medications and examine the association between pharmacists’ attitudes towards mental illness and provision of pharmacy services. The paper also considers pharmacists’ opinions of the pharmaceutical care needs of people with mental illness including their physical health. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was sent by facsimile to a random sample of community pharmacists in England and Wales. Findings – Community pharmacists had generally positive attitudes towards mental illness but provided significantly fewer pharmacy services (and were less comfortable providing them) to patients taking psychotropic medications than to patients taking cardiovascular medications. Awareness of the higher prevalence of physical health conditions among people with severe mental illness was not high. Provision of pharmacy services was associated with pharmacists’ attitudes towards mental illness and comfort providing pharmaceutical care. Other factors that may contribute to these disparities in service provision are discussed. Practical implications – The study findings indicate the need for enhanced mental health education for pharmacy students to improve attitudes, knowledge and confidence in mental health and the inclusion of mental health in pharmacy advanced services. Originality/value – Few studies have examined the relationship between attitudes towards mental illness and provision of pharmacy services. This was the first study to examine the attitudes of British community pharmacists towards mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: For years, older patients have been prescribed multiple blood-thinning medications (complex antithrombotic therapy [CAT]) to decrease their risk of cardiovascular events. These therapies, however, increase risk of adverse bleeding events. We assessed patient-reported trade-offs between cardioprotective benefit, gastrointestinal bleeding risk, and burden of self-management using adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA). As ACA could be a clinically useful tool to obtain patient preferences and guide future patient-centered care, we examined the clinical application of ACA to obtain patient preferences and the impact of ACA on medication adherence. Patients and methods: An electronic ACA survey led 201 respondents through medication risk-benefit trade-offs, revealing patients' preferences for the CAT risk/benefit profile they valued most. The post-ACA prescription regimen was categorized as concordant or discordant with elicited preferences. Adherence was measured using VA pharmacy refill data to measure persistence of use prior to and 1 year following preference-elicitation. Additionally, we analyzed qualitative interviews of 56 respondents regarding their perception of the ACA and the preference elicitation experience. Results: Participants prioritized 5-year cardiovascular benefit over preventing adverse events. Medication side effects, medication-associated activity restrictions, and regimen complexity were less important than bleeding risk and cardioprotective benefit. One year after the ACA survey, a 15% increase in adherence was observed in patients prescribed a preference-concordant CAT strategy. An increase of only 6% was noted in patients prescribed a preference-discordant strategy. Qualitative interviews showed that the ACA exercise contributed to increase inpatient activation, patient awareness of preferences, and patient engagement with clinicians about treatment decisions. Conclusion: By working through trade-offs, patients actively clarified their preferences, learning about CAT risks, benefits, and self-management. Patients with medication regimens concordant with their preferences had increased medication adherence at 1 year compared to those with discordant medication regimens. The ACA task improved adherence through enhanced patient engagement regarding treatment preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medications are a cornerstone of the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. Long-term medication adherence has been the subject of increasing attention in the developed world but has received little attention in resource-limited settings, where the burden of disease is particularly high and growing rapidly. To evaluate prevalence and predictors of non-adherence to cardiovascular medications in this context, we systematically reviewed the peer-reviewed literature.Methods: We performed an electronic search of Ovid Medline, Embase and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts from 1966 to August 2010 for studies that measured adherence to cardiovascular medications in the developing world. A DerSimonian-Laird random effects method was used to pool the adherence estimates across studies. Between-study heterogeneity was estimated with an I(2) statistic and studies were stratified by disease group and the method by which adherence was assessed. Predictors of non-adherence were also examined.Findings: Our search identified 2,353 abstracts, of which 76 studies met our inclusion criteria. Overall adherence was 57.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 52.3% to 62.7%; I(2) 0.98) and was consistent across study subgroups. Studies that assessed adherence with pill counts reported higher levels of adherence (62.1%, 95% CI 49.7% to 73.8%; I(2) 0.83) than those using self-report (54.6%, 95% CI 47.7% to 61.5%; I(2) 0.93). Adherence did not vary by geographic region, urban vs. rural settings, or the complexity of a patient's medication regimen. The most common predictors of poor adherence included poor knowledge, negative perceptions about medication, side effects and high medication costs.Interpretation: Our study indicates that adherence to cardiovascular medication in resource-limited countries is sub-optimal and appears very similar to that observed in resource-rich countries. Efforts to improve adherence in resource-limited settings should be a priority given the burden of heart disease in this context, the central role of medications in their management, and the clinical and economic consequences of non-adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular medications (CVMs) are frequently prescribed for cardiovascular diseases. The unconscious use of cardiovascular drugs may lead to severe clinical manifestations, even to death, especially when in overdose. The objective of this study is to clarify the profile of CVM exposures admitted to Department of Emergency Medicine in Dokuz Eylul University Hospital (EMDEU) between 1993 and 2006. Case demographics, type of the medication, route and reason for exposure, clinical effects and outcome were recorded. Related to the CVM exposures, 105 poisoning cases were admitted. Mean age of children and adults were 12.8 ± 1.0 and 30.1 ± 1.8, respectively. Females were dominating (77.1%). Poisoning by accident occurred mainly among children in the 0—6 age group (64.3%) and suicide attempt was predominant in the 19—29 age group (47.8%). The most common ingested CVMs admitted to EMDEU were calcium channel blockers (19.7%), beta-blockers (17.3%), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics (11.8%). Most of the patients were asymptomatic (59.1%). Frequently observed symptom was altered consciousness (18.6%). Antihypertensive drugs are responsible for the most of the CVM exposures. Prospectively designed multi-centered studies are needed to reflect the epidemiological properties of cardiovascular drug exposures throughout our country and would be very valuable for the determination of preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticoagulants and psychotropic medications are commonly prescribed together. Thus, the potential for interaction exists. Whereas thrombolytics and heparins are implicated in few pharmacokinetic interactions, warfarin and platelet inhibitors have been implicated in various interactions with psychotropic medications. In this article, I review the various psychotropic drug classes’ relationships to anticoagulants. In a field devoid of randomized, placebo-controlled trials, clinical vigilance is advised when managing patients on concomitant therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When faced with difficult-to-control cardiovascular risk factors, clinicians need to address the potential role of patient adherence to medication. Among the elderly in particular, careful consideration must be paid to accurately diagnosing an adherence problem in the context of often worsening atherosclerosis. This process includes moving beyond relying on clinical intuition to ascertain whether a patient has "real" (eg. identifiable) reasons for suboptimal risk factor control and becoming comfortable using evidence-based questions and other ancillary data, when available, to more objectively identify patients with adherence issues. Once identified, a tailored search for an etiology that explores elderly specific patient, physician, and health care system factors needs to be conducted to understand why adherence is a problem for the patient. Finally, clinicians should employ simple tools and clear communication to work with patients and to help them overcome the relevant barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liver-heart axis is a growing field of interest owing to rising evidence of complex bidirectional interplay between the two organs. Recent data suggest non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a significant, independent association with a wide spectrum of structural and functional cardiac diseases, and seems to worsen cardiovascular disease (CVD) prognosis. Conversely, the effect of cardiac disease on NAFLD is not well studied and data are mostly limited to cardiogenic liver disease. We believe it is important to further investigate the heart-liver relationship because of the tremendous global health and economic burden the two diseases pose, and the impact of such investigations on clinical decision making and management guidelines for both diseases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on NAFLD diagnosis, its systemic manifestations, and associations with CVD. More specifically, we review the pathophysiological mechanisms that govern the interplay between NAFLD and CVD and evaluate the relationship between different CVD treatments and NAFLD progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]