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Older Patients' Compliance with Drug Storage Recommendations.

ABSTRACT: Whereas storage conditions are regulated and closely monitored in every stage of the drug supply chain before drug dispensing, it is unknown if patients store drugs at home according to storage recommendations.The objective of this study was to investigate how older patients store their prescription drugs at home and to what extent they comply with drug storage recommendations.We conducted a cross-sectional study between October 2015 and March 2016. Forty-four participating Dutch community pharmacies selected four home-dwelling patients (aged ? 65 years) using at least one prescription drug. A complete drug inventory at patients' homes was performed. Drugs were considered to fulfill the storage recommendation when these met all drug quality (Q) and information (I) criteria: adequately stored according to drug product label storage recommendations for temperature, light, humidity (Q1); expiry date not passed (Q2); integer primary package (Q3); drug identifiability (I1); drug package insert or information leaflet availability (I2).One hundred and seventy patients [53.5% female, mean age 74.9 (standard deviation 7.3) years] were included and 1133 prescription drugs stored at home were registered. More than half of the patients (51.2%) complied with all storage quality and information criteria. Assessment of the individual criteria showed that 76.4% of patients were compliant with criterion Q1 while 90.6, 95.3, 97.1 and 71.2% of patients complied with criteria Q2, Q3, I1 and I2, respectively. 53.2% of drugs that should be kept refrigerated according to storage criterion Q1 were not stored between 2 and 8 °C.This study illustrates that more than half of the older patients comply with general drug storage recommendations.

SUBMITTER: Vlieland ND

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5884895 | biostudies-other | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Older Patients' Compliance with Drug Storage Recommendations.

Vlieland Nicolaas D ND van den Bemt Bart J F BJF Bekker Charlotte L CL Bouvy Marcel L ML Egberts Toine C G TCG Gardarsdottir Helga H

Drugs & aging 20180301 3

<h4>Background</h4>Whereas storage conditions are regulated and closely monitored in every stage of the drug supply chain before drug dispensing, it is unknown if patients store drugs at home according to storage recommendations.<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to investigate how older patients store their prescription drugs at home and to what extent they comply with drug storage recommendations.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a cross-sectional study between October 2015 and March ...[more]

PMID: 29423781

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Project description:BACKGROUND: For patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) retrieval by surgeons, and assessment by pathologists of at least 12 lymph nodes (LNs) predicts the need for adjuvant treatment and improved survival. Different interventions (educational presentation, engaging clinical opinion leaders, performance data sent to hospital executives) to improve compliance with this practice had variable results. This exploratory study examined factors hypothesized to have influenced the outcome of those interventions. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 surgeons and pathologists at eleven hospitals. Clinicians were identified by intervention organizers, public licensing body database, and referral from interviewees. An interview guide incorporating open-ended questions was pilot-tested on one surgeon and pathologist. A single investigator conducted all interviews by phone. Transcripts were analyzed independently by two investigators using a grounded approach,ho then compared findings to resolve differences. RESULTS: Improvements in LN staging practice may have occurred largely due to educational presentations that created awareness, and self-initiated changes undertaken by pathologists. Executives that received performance data may not have shared this with staff, and opinion leaders engaged to promote compliance may not have fulfilled their roles. Barriers to change that are potentially amenable to quality improvement included perceptions about the practice (perceived lack of evidence for the need to examine at least 12 LNs) and associated responsibilities (blaming other profession), technical issues (need for pathology assistants, better clearing solutions and laboratory facilities), and a lack of organizational support for multidisciplinary interaction (little communication between surgeons and pathologists) or quality improvement (no change leaders or capacity for monitoring). CONCLUSION: Use of an exploratory approach provided an in-depth view of the way that numerous factors amenable to quality improvement influenced the adoption of new CRC LN staging recommendations. Continued interventions targeting physicians and executives, in the absence of a receptive organizational infrastructure, may be fruitless. Individualized rather than regional or punitive performance data, coupled with increased organizational capacity for change may stimulate greater surgical and organizational response to quality improvement. Descriptive or experimental studies are needed to test these hypotheses.

Dataset Information

Older Patients' Compliance with Drug Storage Recommendations.

Publications

Older Patients' Compliance with Drug Storage Recommendations.

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