Purpose: To analyze the evolution of the prevalence of polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy in a Spanish population, and to improve the identification of patients with polypharmacy.Methods: A descriptive, annual cross-sectional observational study was carried out.Patients: individuals over 14 years of age included in a multiregional primary care database of the Spanish population (BIFAP). Analysis: prescription data. Period 2005-2015. Variables: proportion of patients with polypharmacy (simultaneous prescription of ≥5 drugs) and excessive polypharmacy (≥10 drugs) for at least 6 months, according to sex and age groups. A trend analysis of the studied period was performed (overall, and by sex and age groups).Results: The data are reported on a comparative basis (2005 vs 2015). Number of patients analyzed: 2664743 vs 4 002 877. The prevalence of polypharmacy increased significantly (2.5% vs 8.9%, P-value for trend <0.001), being greater in females throughout the study period and in the group aged ≥80 years (P-value for trends <0.001). The prevalence of excessive polypharmacy also increased significantly (0.1% vs 1%, P-value for trend <0.001), being higher in the group aged ≥80 years (P-value for trend <0.001). The proportion of patients with no chronic treatment decreased (80.2% vs 63.1%). Conclusions:The prevalence of polypharmacy in this Spanish population has tripled in the period 2005-2015, while excessive polypharmacy has increased 10-fold. These increments are seen in both sexes and in all age groups, particularly in individuals over 80 years of age. The proportion of patients without chronic treatments has decreased. K E Y W O R D S drug utilization, electronic prescribing, medical records systems, computerized, Pharmacoepidemiology, Polypharmacy
Introduction: Factors relating to the interpersonal relationship between the patient and their physician and social environment are important components, which contribute to their response to treatment for major depressive disorder. This study aimed to assess the influence of optimism, perfectionism, therapeutic alliance, empathy, social support, and adherence to medication regimen in the response to antidepressant treatments in the context of normal primary care clinical practice.Method: We conducted a prospective study in which 24 primary care physicians administered sertraline or escitalopram to 89 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The response to treatment and remission of the episode was assessed at 4 and 12 weeks by Cox regression. The effect of adherence to the medication regimen was assessed by multiple regression statistical techniques.Results: Adherence to medication (HR = 0.262, 95% CI = 0.125–0.553, p < 0.001) and patient perfectionism (HR = 0.259, 95% CI = 0.017–0.624, p < 0.01) negatively predicted the initial response to treatment, whereas patient optimism (HR = 1.221, 95% CI = 1.080–1.380, p < 0.05) positively predicted it. Patient optimism (HR = 1.247, 95% CI = 1.1–1.4, p < 0.05), empathy perceived by the patient (HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1001–1002, p < 0.05), and therapeutic alliance (HR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1001–1.04, p < 0.05) positively predicted episode remission, while patient perfectionism (HR = 0.219, 95% CI = 0.093–0.515, p < 0.001) and low adherence to the treatment regimen (HR = 0.293, 95% CI = 0.145–0.595, p < 0.001) negatively predicted it. Finally, social support (p < 0.01) and therapeutic alliance (p < 0.05) predicted adherence to the medication regimen.Conclusions: In addition to taking the antidepressant drug, other factors including the personal interactions between the patient with their primary care physician and with their social environment significantly influenced the patients' initial response and the final rate of episode remission.
We aimed to identify and compare medication profiles in populations with polypharmacy between 2005 and 2015. We conducted a cross-sectional study using information from the Computerized Database for Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies in Primary Care (BIFAP, Spain). We estimated the prevalence of therapeutic subgroups in all individuals 15 years of age and older with polypharmacy (≥5 drugs during ≥6 months) using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system level 4, by sex and age group, for both calendar years. The most prescribed drugs were proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), statins, antiplatelet agents, benzodiazepine derivatives, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The greatest increases between 2005 and 2015 were observed in PPIs, statins, other antidepressants, and β-blockers, while the prevalence of antiepileptics was almost tripled. We observed increases in psychotropic drugs in women and cardiovascular medications in men. By patient´s age groups, there were notable increases in antipsychotics, antidepressants, and antiepileptics (15–44 years); antidepressants, PPIs, and selective β-blockers (45–64 years); selective β-blockers, biguanides, PPIs, and statins (65–79 years); and in statins, selective β-blockers, and PPIs (80 years and older). Our results revealed important increases in the use of specific therapeutic subgroups, like PPIs, statins, and psychotropic drugs, highlighting opportunities to design and implement strategies to analyze such prescriptions’ appropriateness.
Background: General practitioners (GPs) in developed countries widely prescribe benzodiazepines (BZDs) for their anxiolytic, hypnotic, and muscle-relaxant effects. Treatment duration, however, is rarely limited, and this results in a significant number of chronic users. Long-term BZD use is associated with cognitive impairment, falls with hip fractures, traffic accidents, and increased mortality. The BENZORED IV trial was a hybrid type-1 trial conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of an intervention to reduce BZD prescription in primary care. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the facilitators and barriers regarding the implementation of the intervention in primary care settings. Methods: A qualitative interview study with 40 GPs from three Spanish health districts. Focus group meetings with GPs from the intervention arm of the BENZORED IV trial were held at primary healthcare centers in the three districts. For sampling purposes, the GPs were classified as high or low implementers according to the success of the intervention measured at 12 months. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to conduct the meetings and to code, rate, and analyze the data. Results: Three of the 41 CFIR constructs strongly distinguished between high and low implementers: the complexity of the intervention, the individual Stage of Change, and the key stakeholder’s engagement. Seven constructs weakly discriminated between the two groups: adaptability in the intervention, external policy and incentives, implementation climate, relative priority, self-efficacy, compatibility, and engaging a formally appointed implementation leader. Fourteen constructs did not discriminate between the two groups, six had insufficient data for evaluation, and eleven had no data for evaluation. Conclusions: We identified constructs that could explain differences in the efficacy in implementation of the intervention. This information is relevant for the design of successful strategies for implementation of the intervention.
Background Current benzodiazepine (BZD) prescription guidelines recommend short-term use to minimize the risk of dependence, cognitive impairment, and falls and fractures. However, many clinicians overprescribe BZDs and chronic use by patients is common. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions delivered by general practitioners (GPs) on reducing prescriptions and long-term use of BZDs. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention for GPs that seeks to reduce BZD prescriptions and the prevalence of long-term users. Methods and findings We conducted a multicenter two-arm, cluster randomized controlled trial in 3 health districts in Spain (primary health centers [PHCs] in Balearic Islands, Catalonia, and Valencian Community) from September 2016 to May 2018. The 81 PHCs were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n = 41; 372 GPs) or the control group (n = 40; 377 GPs). GPs were not blinded to the allocation; however, pharmacists, researchers, and trial statisticians were blinded to the allocation arm. The intervention consisted of a workshop about the appropriate prescribing of BZDs and tapering-off long-term BZD use using a tailored stepped dose reduction with monthly BZD prescription feedback and access to a support web page. The primary outcome, based on 700 GPs (351 in the control group and 349 in the intervention group), compared changes in BZD prescriptions in defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1,000 inhabitants per day after 12 months. The 2 secondary outcomes were the proportion of long-term users (≥6 months) and the proportion of long-term users over age 65 years. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis was used to assess all clinical outcomes. Forty-nine GPs (21 intervention group and 28 control group) were lost to follow-up. However, all GPs were included in the ITT analysis. After 12 months, there were a statistically significant decline in total BZD prescription in the intervention group compared to the control group (mean difference: −3.24 DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day, 95% confidence interval (CI): −4.96, −1.53, p < 0.001). The intervention group also had a smaller number of long-term users. The adjusted absolute difference overall was −0.36 (95% CI: −0.55, −0.16, p > 0.001), and the adjusted absolute difference in long-term users over age 65 years was −0.87 (95% CI: −1.44, −0.30, p = 0.003). A key limitation of this clustered design clinical trial is the imbalance of some baseline characteristics. The control groups have a higher rate of baseline BZD prescription, and more GPs in the intervention group were women, GPs with a doctorate degree, and trainers of GP residents. Conclusions A multicomponent intervention that targeted GPs and included educational meeting, feedback about BZD prescriptions, and a support web page led to a statistically significant reduction of BZD prescriptions and fewer long-term users. Although the effect size was small, the high prevalence of BZD use in the general population suggests that large-scale implementation of this intervention could have positive effects on the health of many patients. Trial registration ISRCTN ISRCTN28272199.
Background: General practitioners (GPs) in developed countries widely prescribe benzodiazepines (BZDs) for their anxiolytic, hypnotic, and muscle-relaxant effects. Treatment duration, however, is rarely limited and this results in a significant number of chronic users. Long-term BZD use is associated with cognitive impairment, falls with hip fractures, traffic accidents, and increased mortality. The BENZORED IV trial was a hybrid type 1 trial conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of an intervention to reduce BZD prescription in primary care. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze facilitator and barriers to implement the intervention to primary care settings.Methods: Focus group meetings with GPs from the intervention arm of the BENZORED IV trial were held at primary healthcare centers in the three districts. For sampling purposes, the GPs were classified as high or low implementers according to the success of the intervention measured at 12 months. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to conduct the meetings and to code, rate and analyze the dataResults: Three of the 41 CFIR constructs strongly distinguished between high and low implementers: The complexity in the intervention, the individual Stage of Change and the key stakeholder’s engagement. Seven constructs weakly discriminated between the two groups: the adaptability in the intervention, the external policy and incentives, the implementation climate, the relative priority, the self-efficacy and formally appointed implementation leader engaging. Fourteen constructs did not discriminate between the two groups, six had insufficient data for evaluation, and eleven had no data for evaluation.Conclusion: We identified constructs that could explain the variation in the implementation of the intervention, this information is relevant to design successful implementation strategies to implement the intervention.
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