Improving Safe Use of Medications During Pregnancy: The Roles of Patients, Physicians, and Pharmacists.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lynch MM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5819595 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Improving Safe Use of Medications During Pregnancy: The Roles of Patients, Physicians, and Pharmacists.
Lynch Molly M MM Amoozegar Jacqueline B JB McClure Emily M EM Squiers Linda B LB Broussard Cheryl S CS Lind Jennifer N JN Polen Kara N KN Frey Meghan T MT Gilboa Suzanne M SM Biermann Janis J
Qualitative health research 20171003 13
Our study sought to explore the actual and potential roles of patients, physicians, and pharmacists, as well as their shared challenges and opportunities, in improving the safety of medication use during pregnancy. We conducted virtual focus groups with 48 women and in-depth interviews with nine physicians and five pharmacists. Qualitative analysis revealed that all three groups of participants reported "playing it safe," the need for an engaged patient making informed decisions, challenges surr ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundCurrent knowledge regarding chronic use of psychotropic medications during breastfeeding is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of psychotropic monotherapy use during lactation on the breastfed infant.Materials and methodsIn this prospective study, we followed 280 infants whose mothers contacted the Drug Consultation Center (DCC) at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center between January 2011 and December 2015, seeking information regarding the chronic use of psychotropic medications during lactation. This group was compared with a group of 152 callers, who inquired evidence regarding the use of antibiotics compatible with breastfeeding. Information on adverse effects, physical measures and gross motor developmental milestone achievements of the breastfed infants was obtained during a follow-up telephone interview. At follow up, the median age of the infants in the Psychotropic-drug group was 20 (11-33) months versus 36 (20-48) months in the Antibiotic group (p < 0.001). The outcomes were compared between the groups followed by a propensity score matching to control for difference in baseline characteristics.ResultsAt follow-up, no significant differences between infants in the two groups were observed with regard to height, weight, head circumference and weight-length ratio percentile (p = 0.339, p = 0.223, p = 0.738, p = 0.926, respectively). Children in both groups were, according to their parents, within the normal developmental range for all milestones, according to the Denver Developmental Scale. Use of psychotropic medications during breastfeeding was not significantly associated with adverse reactions. After propensity score matching (n = 120 pairs) to control for differences in baseline characteristics and the length of lactation, only one significant difference was reported, sleepiness in infants in the study group (7/120) and none in the comparison group (p = 0.008).ConclusionsChronic use of psychotropic monotherapy during lactation is associated with normal growth and gross motor developmental as by milestone achievements reported by parents. Sleepiness was reported, it seemed self-limited with no developmental effect.
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Project description:Adherence to a hospital discharge medication regime is crucial for successful treatment and to avoid increasing rates of drug resistance. A patient's success in adhering to their medication regime is dependent on many social, cultural, economic, illness and therapy-related factors, and these are often more pronounced in the developing world. Anecdotal evidence in Services Hospital, Lahore (Pakistan) suggested that the relatively high levels of illiteracy in the patient population was a major factor in poor adherence. Baseline measurement revealed that 48% of all the hospital's patients were illiterate with just 5%-12% of illiterate patients being able to interpret their handwritten discharge prescription after leaving hospital. Unsurprisingly follow-up clinics reported very poor adherence. This quality improvement project intervened by designing a new discharge prescription proforma which used pictures and symbols rather than words to convey the necessary information. Repeated surveys demonstrated large relative increases in comprehension of the new proformas amongst illiterate patients with between 23%-35% of illiterate patients understanding the new proformas.
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Project description:Background: Pharmacists are on the frontline caring for patients at risk of an opioid overdose and for patients with an opioid use disorder (OUD). Dispensing naloxone and medications for OUD and counseling patients about these medications are ways pharmacists can provide care. Key to pharmacists' involvement is their willingness to take on these practice responsibilities. Methods: The purpose of this scoping review is to identify, evaluate, and summarize published literature describing pharmacists' attitudes toward naloxone and medications for OUD, i.e., methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. All searches were performed on December 7, 2018, in 5 databases: Embase.com, PubMed.gov, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) via EBSCOhost, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials via Wiley, and Clarivate Web of Science. Articles included original research conducted in the United States, described attitude-related language toward naloxone and medications for OUD, and pharmacists. Results: A total of 1323 articles were retrieved, 7 were included. Five studies reported on pharmacists' attitudes toward naloxone dispensing, 1 study reported on attitudes toward naloxone, buprenorphine, and buprenorphine/naloxone, and 1 reported on attitudes toward buprenorphine/naloxone. Respondents were diverse, including pharmacists from different practice specialties. Studies found that pharmacists agreed with a naloxone standing order, believed that naloxone should be dispensed to individuals at risk of an opioid overdose, and were supportive of dispensing buprenorphine. A minority of pharmacists expressed negative attitudes. Barriers cited to implementation included education and training, workflow, and management support. Conclusions: Pharmacists were positive in their attitudes toward increased practice responsibilities for patients at risk of an opioid overdose or with an OUD. Pharmacists must receive education and training to be current in their understanding of OUD medications, and they must be supported in order to provide effective care to this patient population.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Benzodiazepine medications can be used to treat anxiety, a condition affecting 15% of women of childbearing age in the United States. Studies have shown conflicting results for the association between benzodiazepine use during pregnancy and birth defects. METHODS:We analyzed 1997-2011 data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multisite, population-based case-control study. We assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with benzodiazepine use in pregnancy among mothers of live-born infants without a birth defect (control mothers). We used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between specific birth defects and benzodiazepine use; we estimated crude odds ratios (cORs) for defect categories with 3-4 exposed cases. RESULTS:Exposure to benzodiazepines during pregnancy was rare (N?=?93/11,614; 0.8%). Benzodiazepine use was more common among control mothers who were ?30?years, non-Hispanic white, had more education, smoked, and took antidepressant medication. We observed significantly elevated ORs for any benzodiazepine and Dandy-Walker malformation (cOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.1, 8.6); for alprazolam and anophthalmia or microphthalmia (cOR: 4.0; 95% CI: 1.2, 13.1) and esophageal atresia or stenosis (aOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 5.9); and lorazepam and pulmonary valve stenosis (cOR: 4.1; 95% CI: 1.2, 14.2), but sample sizes were limited and therefore CIs were wide. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that benzodiazepines use is rare and may be associated with risk for certain birth defects. However, these results need replication and should be interpreted with caution.
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