Results of Optimize: A Cluster Randomized Trial of Patient, Family, and Provider Education in Primary Care

Individuals with cognitive impairment frequently have multiple chronic conditions (MCC), increasing their risk for polypharmacy and associated adverse outcomes. Optimizing medications through deprescribing (reducing or stopping the use of inappropriate medications or medications unlikely to be beneficial) may improve outcomes for this population. Optimize was a pragmatic, 12-month cluster-randomized trial of deprescribing in primary care within a not-for-profit integrated delivery system. Participants were age 65+ with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 2+ chronic conditions, and 5+ chronic medications. The intervention consisted of a deprescribing educational brochure for patients/caregivers, and Tip Sheets for primary care clinicians. Outcomes were the number of chronic medications and presence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM). In total, 1,433 patients received, and 1,579 control clinic patients would have been eligible to receive, the intervention (N=3,012). After 6 months, mean estimates of chronic medications were 6.23 in the intervention group and 6.33 in the control group adjusting for baseline counts, age, and gender (p=0.13). Excluding those without complete 90 days follow-up increased the adjusted effect size to 0.14 (p=0.08). In sub-analyses of individuals with 7+ medications at baseline (N= 1,434), the adjusted effect size was 0.19 (p=0.07) at 6 months and 0.21 (p=0.045) when excluding those without complete 90 days’ follow-up. Change in proportions of PIM did not differ between intervention and control groups. An educational intervention for patients, caregivers and clinicians may prompt reductions in chronic medications. The relatively small effect size highlights the complexity of medication management for individuals with dementia or MCI and MCC.

What Are the Factors Associated with Nonadherence to Medications in Patients with Chronic Diseases?

Introduction: Adherence to medications is very crucial for an optimized clinical outcome in the management of chronic diseases. Beliefs about medications and other factors can significantly affect adherence to chronic medications. The objective of the present research was to identify the associated factors of adherence to medication in Jordanian patients with chronic diseases utilizing a stepwise binary logistical regression model. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between November 2018 and March 2020. The participants were reached from secondary and tertiary care setting clinics in Jordan. The recruited patients were asked to report their attitudes of adherence to medications and beliefs about medications via filling out the MARS-5 and BMQ-specific tools. Sociodemographic data were also collected from the recruited patients and included in the regression model. A stepwise binary logistical regression model was applied to identify the associated factors of adherence to chronic medications in the tested sample. Results: A total of 485 patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited. The mean age of the participants was 57.14 (age ranged from 22 to 82 years). Around 39% of the participants were older than 65 years. Most of the patients were either hypertensive or diabetic (35.7% and 32.2%, respectively). The logistic regression model indicated that necessity beliefs are strongly associated with adherence (OR 4.22), while concerns beliefs, dosage frequency and having medical insurance were negatively associated with adherence (OR 0.73, 0.74 and 0.26, respectively), with a p-value ≤ 0.05. Conclusions: Both the MARS-5 and BMQ-specific questionnaires were applied successfully on the tested sample. Better attention should be paid to the logistic regression model variables that were associated with adherence in order to guarantee optimal treatment outcomes in the treatment of chronic diseases.

Medical care contact for infertility and related medication use during pregnancy – a European, cross-sectional web-based study

Aims: The aim of the study was two-fold: i) to determine the prevalence of medical care contact for infertility in European countries; ii) to map overall and long-term/chronic medication use during pregnancy in women who sought medical care due to infertility.Methods: This is a sub-study of the Multinational Medication Use in Pregnancy Study, a cross-sectional, web-based study conducted from October 2011 to February 2012. We included 8097 participants from Europe who were pregnant or new mothers. We collected data on overall and long-term/chronic medication use, medical care seeking due to infertility, and whether women eventually conceived spontaneously or with the aid of infertility treatment.Results: Medical care contact for infertility was lower in Western Europe (prevalence estimate: 10.0-15.3%), compared with Northern (15.2-17.5%) or Eastern (17.4-20.9%), but Poland had the lowest estimate (8.0%). Overall, 660 (8.2%) women sought medical care due to infertility but conceived spontaneously; 548 (6.8%) conceived aided by fertility treatment, and 6889 (85.0%) women did not seek help. Use of any medication was comparable across the three groups (range 80.4-82.5%), but women seeking help for infertility (21.8-24.6%) took more often long-term/chronic medications than women who did not (14.8%).Conclusion: Medical care contacts for infertility varies greatly across European countries. Women who had medical contact due to infertility used more often chronic medications in pregnancy than women who did not, pointing to more co-morbidities and risk pregnancies.

The Continuity of Chronic Medications in Multimorbid Patients during Perioperative Period: Retrospective Analysis

Background. Failure of continuity at care transitions results in 50% of all medication errors and up to 20% of adverse drug events (ADEs). In surgical patients medication errors occur more often than in medical patients due to perioperative corrections of medications and greater number of in-hospital transitions. The frequency of ADE in surgical patients varies from 2.3 to 27.7%. Aims to determine the prevalence and structure of unintentional discrepancies (UDs) in medications at admission to and discharge from surgery departments, report their potential clinical impact and analyse possible risk factors. Methods. Retrospective observational study was conducted in a general hospital in Russia. The study included patients hospitalized for elective surgery in Surgical Departments from January to June 2019. The pre-admission Best Possible Medication History (BPMH) for every patient was obtained. The BPMHs were compared with admission medication orders and hospital discharge prescriptions to identify UDs. Detected UDs were analysed for potential ADE with severity evaluation. Results. 206 patients were included, 55.83% were female, mean age 63.85 (9.38), median of chronic medications was 3 drugs. At least one UD was detected in 70.87% of patients at admission and in 92.72% at discharge, respectively, with averages of 1.30 and 2.81 discrepancies per patient. Cardiovascular drugs were the most frequent class involved at both admission (72.2%) and discharge (68.05%) in UDs. The most often UDs at both admission (51.68%) and discharge (94.65%) were omissions, incorrect dose (22.47% and 2.25%), and additional medications (11.6% and 1.55%). UDs had the potential to cause significant ADEs in 81.27%, serious ADEs in 18.35% of cases. Only 0.37% of UDs could contribute to life-threatening ADEs. The relative risk of discrepancies in patients of 60 years and older was 1.292-fold higher; three and more chronic medications increase risk 1.565-fold; diabetic or thyroid medications increase risk 1.932-fold. Conclusions. We reported on the first study of medication discrepancies conducted in Russian hospital. Estimated frequency, structure and risk factors of UDs in medications at admission to and discharge from surgery departments are similar to those from other countries. To decrease UDs in medications, implementation of medication reconciliation is needed.

Primary care oncology model (PCOM): Implementation of a model integrating primary and oncology care for patients taking oral anticancer agents.

TPS1587 Background: Non-adherence to oral anticancer agents (OAA) has been reported among 30% of individuals. Often, individuals with cancer are not just managing their new OAA but also medications to treat multiple chronic conditions (MCC). Multiple factors contribute to the extent patients on OAAs and MCC medications adhere to therapy. The objective of this study is to improve medication, symptom, and disease management of patients with hematological malignancies and MCC through care coordination between pharmacists. Methods: Design. This is a multi-center prospective single arm pilot study at two academic medical centers in Michigan and Tennessee. Subjects. Ninety participants will be recruited, 60 from site 1 and 30 from site 2. Inclusion criteria are: adults > 18 years, diagnosed with and initiating oral treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or multiple myeloma, diagnoses of at least 2 chronic conditions, where one is type 2 diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, depression/anxiety, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hyperlipidemia, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, taking at least two chronic medications, and able to provide electronic consent. Exclusion criteria are: inability to speak English, and diagnosis of type 1 diabetes or HIV. Intervention. Participants will complete two Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for their OAA that will be reviewed by the oncology pharmacist, with follow-up to the care team if needed. Participants will be scheduled for a Comprehensive Medication Review with a primary care pharmacist for up to two visits for their chronic medications. The intervention over 2 months, and the oncology and primary care pharmacists communicate via electronic health record about medications, symptoms, and disease control. Outcomes. The primary endpoints are (a) dose-adjusted adherence by proportion days covered (PDC) for the OAA and (b) PDC for chronic condition medications, assessed using 6 months of prescription claims. Data will be collected from patients using REDCap surveys and abstracted data will be entered into REDCap. Implementation by pharmacists and patient acceptability will be examined. Analysis. The association of OAA and chronic medication adherence (PDC) will be examined via correlation. Participant demographics,clinical characteristics, and the symptom experience from the PROM will be described. Using CMR results, medication problems, recommendations, and changes will be provided. Program implementation will be assessed and patient perceptions obtained from post-CMR interviews. A joint display for the quantitative and qualitative data for feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability from pharmacists will be completed. Results: Screening and recruitment has begun. Clinical trial information: NCT04595851 and NCT04663100.

Patient access to chronic medications during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from a comprehensive dataset of US insurance claims

Patient access and adherence to chronic medications is critical. In this work, we evaluate whether disruptions related to Covid-19 have affected new and existing patients’ access to pharmacological therapies without interruption. We do so by performing a retrospective analysis on a dataset of 9.4 billion US prescription drug claims from 252 million patients from May, 2019 through August, 2020 (about 93% of prescriptions dispensed within those months). Using fixed effect (conditional likelihood) linear models, we evaluate continuity of care, how many days of supply patients received, and the likelihood of discontinuing therapy for drugs from classes with significant population health impacts. Findings indicate that more prescriptions were filled in March 2020 than in any prior month, followed by a significant drop in monthly dispensing. Compared to the pre-Covid era, a patient’s likelihood of discontinuing some medications increased after the spread of Covid: norgestrel-ethinyl estradiol (hormonal contraceptive) discontinuation increased 0.62% (95% CI: 0.59% to 0.65%, p<0.001); dexmethylphenidate HCL (ADHD stimulant treatment) discontinuation increased 2.84% (95% CI: 2.79% to 2.89%, p<0.001); escitalopram oxalate (SSRI antidepressant) discontinuation increased 0.57% (95% CI: 0.561% to 0.578%, p<0.001); and haloperidol (antipsychotic) discontinuation increased 1.49% (95% CI: 1.41% to 1.57%, p<0.001). In contrast, the likelihood of discontinuing tacrolimus (immunosuppressant) decreased 0.15% (95% CI: 0.12% to 0.19%, p<0.001). The likelihood of discontinuing buprenorphine/naloxone (opioid addiction therapy) decreased 0.59% (95% CI: 0.55% to 0.62% decrease, p<0.001). We also observe a notable decline in new patients accessing these latter two therapies. Most US patients were able to access chronic medications during the early months of Covid-19, but still were more likely to discontinue their therapies than in previous months. Further, fewer than normal new patients started taking medications that may be vital to their care. Providers would do well to inquire about adherence and provide prompt, nonjudgmental, re-initiation of medications. From a policy perspective, opioid management programs seem to demonstrate a robust ability to manage existing patients in spite of disruption.