Medicines reconciliation is a way to identify and act on discrepancies in patients’ medical histories and it is found to play a key role in patient safety. This review focuses on discrepancies and medical errors that occurred at point of discharge from hospital. Studies were identified through the following electronic databases: PubMed, Sciences Direct, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Reviews and CINAHL. Each of the six databases was screened from inception to end of January 2014. To determine eligibility of the studies; the title, abstract and full manuscript were screened to find 15 articles that meet the inclusion criteria. The median number of discrepancies across the articles was found to be 60%. In average patient had between 1.2–5.3 discrepancies when leaving the hospital. More studies also found a relation between the numbers of drugs a patient was on and the number of discrepancies. The variation in the number of discrepancies found in the 15 studies could be due to the fact that some studies excluded patient taking more than 5 drugs at admission. Medication reconciliation would be a way to avoid the high number of discrepancies that was found in this literature review and thereby increase patient safety.

Graphical abstract

Poor adherence to oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains an important challenge in the treatment of HIV. Microneedles (MN) potentially could offer a non-invasive long-acting (LA) delivery approach, avoiding the need for daily dosing of ART. However, this claim has yet to be explored amongst its potential end-users. The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the perspectives from various end-users surrounding the translation of MN technology to general clinical practice, with a particular focus on delivery of ART. Quantitative postal questionnaires were distributed amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the lay public (LP). A total of 208 responses were obtained (HCP, 69; LP, 139), with a completion rate of 34.7%. The consensus on MN technology was positive from both demographics (HCP, 97.1%; LP, 98.6%), with further strong support of postulated MN use within HIV (HCP, 97.1%; LP, 98.6%). Qualitative focus groups were employed to investigate in-depth, the perspectives of 12 patients with HIV. Again, consensus on MN technology was positive, highlighting benefits pertinent to HIV, including discreet self-application and potential sustained release thus avoiding daily oral ART and associated side effects. Patient concerns focused on the need for varied MN dosing schedules and a reluctance to change from established ART. The findings of this study provide an initial indication of MN acceptability, particularly for use within HIV, from various end-user demographics. Furthermore, concerns raised advocate the importance of continued translational research in this area and should act as motivators for those in MN development to ensure a patient-centred MN product is delivered.

The study identified the time of discharge as a point at which prescribing errors are likely to occur. This has implications for patient safety and provider work load in both primary and secondary care.

Despite a decline in the number of active pharmaceutical ingredients prepared extemporaneously using proprietary products, there remains a need for such products in the community (for example, liquid medicines for paediatrics which may be otherwise commercially unavailable). A lack of experience and quality assurance systems may have diminished pharmacist’s confidence in the extemporaneous preparation process; therefore, pharmacists were asked to prepare two proprietary products, omeprazole and amlodipine. The resulting products were characterised in terms of variability in drug quantity, stability, particle size and antimicrobial properties. Furthermore, a self-administered questionnaire was used to assess 10 pharmacists’ opinions on the perceived complexity of the extemporaneous compounding process and their overall confidence in the final extemporaneously compounded products. Drug content studies revealed that 88.5% and 98.0% of the desired drug content was obtained for omeprazole and amlodipine, respectively. Antimicrobial properties were maintained for both drugs, however variability in particle size, particularly for amlodipine, was evident between formulations. While pharmacists who partook in the study had some or high confidence in the final products, they reported difficulty formulating the suspensions. Findings from this study provide insight into pharmacists’ views on two extemporaneously prepared products and highlight the variability obtained in preparations prepared by different pharmacists.

Background The first case of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was reported in March 2020. This study aims to describe the overall mortality in the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine independent risk factors for overall survival & 29 days mortality. Methods This is a retrospective single-center study; data for adult patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19 between 1st March 2020 to 31st December 2020 were extracted and reviewed. Overall survival was described using Kaplan-Meier curves with reporting of median overall survival and 29 days survival estimates. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards model and multivariate logistic regression model. Figure 1. Study flow chart Table 1. Demographic characteristics categorized by Gender Results Eligible subjects were 209 (Figure 1) and subjects demographics are summarized in (Table1). Observed death events were 82 (39.2% of the total cohort), 61% of deaths reached at 2 weeks of ICU stay (n.= 50), median overall survival (OS) was reached at day 23, as shown in (Figure 2). The multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis (Figure 3) showed elevated SOFA score [aHR= 1.10, P < 0.001] and Vasopressors [aHR= 3.23, P= 0.002] as independent risk factors for overall ICU mortality. Independent protective factors were: Systemic corticosteroids use (P= 0.019), Insulin use (P= 0.026) and Liposomal Amphotericin B (LAMB) use (P= 0.019). For mortality at day 29, the multivariate logistic regression model (Figure. 4) showed elevated SOFA score (P= 0.005), any need for ventilation escalation after ICU admission (P= 0.014), Ribavirin use (P=0.016) and Vasopressors use ( P< 0.001) as independent risk factors. Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) use was a protective factor (P=0.025). Figure 2. Overall Survival (OS) for patients admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19 - Kaplan Meier (KM) Figure 3. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model for factors associated with overall mortality in patients admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19 Figure 4. Multivariate logistic regression model for factors associated with 29 days mortality in patients admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19 Conclusion SOFA score and vasopressors are independent predictors for overall survival and 29-day mortality in the ICU. The need for ventilation escalation after ICU admission appeared to lead to poor prognosis in regard to 29-day mortality only. Systemic corticosteroids are lifesaving, further studies are required to confirm the observed clinical benefits with insulin, LAMB and ACEi use in the ICU and to investigate any hazardous impact of ribavirin on COVID-19 outcomes. Study limitations Residual confounding of other measured and/or unobserved factors cannot be ruled out. Disclosures Sherif Khattab, BPharm, Gilead Sciences (Employee, Shareholder) Mohamed Bakry, MBBCh, Gilead Sciences (Employee)Roche Pharma (Employee)