<p><i>Background</i>: Nursing home residents often have several conditions that necessitate the use of multiple medicines. This study investigates the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and its associations with sex, age, number of medicines, and study location (rural/urban).</p> <p><i>Methods:</i> A cross-sectional study of long-term care residents from six nursing ...

The global prevalence of infections caused by extended-spectrum βlactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) is increasing, and for Escherichia coli, observations indicate that this is partly driven by community-onset cases. The ESBL-E population structure in the community is scarcely described, and data on risk factors for carriage are conflicting. Here, we report the prevalence and population ...

<i>Background</i> - Norwegian guideline recommendations on first-line empirical antibiotic prescribing in hospitalised patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are penicillin G/V in monotherapy, or penicillin G in combination with gentamicin (or cefotaxime) in severely ill patients. The aim of this study was to explore how different empirical antibiotic treatments impact on length of hospital ...

<i>Background</i> - The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are associated with negative health effects for older adults. The purpose of this study was to apply national register data to investigate the impact of hospitalisation to geriatric wards in Norway on the use of medications and PIMs, and to compare two explicit PIM identification tools.<p><p> <i>Methods</i> - We included ...

Introduction - The ‘emergency department (ED) pharmacist’ is an integrated part of the ED interdisciplinary team in many countries, which have shown to improve medication safety and reduce costs related to hospitalisations. In Norway, few EDs are equipped with ED pharmacists, and research describing effects on patients has not been conducted. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of ...

Background - Suboptimal medication use contributes to a substantial proportion of hospitalizations and emergency department visits in older adults. We designed a clinical pharmacist intervention to optimize medication therapy in older hospitalized patients. Based on the integrated medicine management (IMM) model, the 5-step IMMENSE intervention comprise medication reconciliation, medication review, ...

Background - Network Analysis (NA) is a method that has been used in various disciplines such as Social sciences and Ecology for decades. So far, NA has not been used extensively in studies of medication use. Only a handful of papers have used NA in Drug Prescription Networks (DPN). We provide an introduction to NA terminology alongside a guide to creating and extracting results from the medication ...

Background - Emergency department (ED) pharmacists reduce medication errors and improve quality of medication use. Patient perceptions and experiences with ED pharmacists have not been studied. The aim of this study was to explore patients’ perceptions of and experiences with medication-related activities in the ED, with and without an ED pharmacist present.<p> <p>Methods - We conducted 24 ...

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and associated factors of self-reported medication information needs among medication users in a general population aged 40 years and above – The Tromsø Study.<p> <p>Methods: Cross-sectional study of medication users (n=10,231) among participants in the Tromsø Study, a descriptive analysis of questionnaire data and multivariable logistic regression (n=9,194). Results: ...

Objectives Staphylococcus aureus carriage increases infection risk. We used social network analysis to evaluate whether contacts have the same S. aureus genotype indicating direct transmission, or whether contagiousness is an indirect effect of contacts sharing the same lifestyle or characteristics. Methods The Fit Futures 1 study collected data on social contact among 1038 high school students. ...