Optimizing Drug-Therapy in Patients 80 Years and Older

December 4, 2008 updated by: Uppsala University Hospital

Optimizing Drug-Therapy in Patients, 80 Years and Older, in Order to Reduce Drug-Related Morbidity and Usage of Secondary Care - a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of an enhanced service where a pharmacists is part of the healthcare team on the ward (focusing on drug-related problems and transferring information between primary and secondary care). Primary outcome measure is visits to hospital during a 12-month follow-up period, and the population is patients 80 years and older.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Optimising drug-therapy for patients, 80 years and older, to reduce hospital visits

Background and Objective:

Results from a pilot-study performed in 2004 at the Academic Hospital, Uppsala, including 214 consecutive patients (80 years old or older) showed that 9.4%-13.6% of the patients were acutely admitted to hospital due to a drug related problem1. Other similar international studies show that the frequency of drug-related hospital admissions stands for at least 14% of the acute admissions (14%-30.4%). Of these admissions it was estimated that 32%-69% were preventable 2,3,4.

A study from Antrim Hospital, Northern Ireland, showed that pharmacists´ involvement in the health care team can reduce the number of acute hospital admissions and improve quality of drug use5.

In view of these findings this study was initiated in 2005 with fundings from the Drug and Therapeutics committee, the County Council of Uppsala, the Division of Acute-Medicine and the Pharmacy Department at the Academic Hospital in Uppsala

Aim and objectives:

The Study Aim was to optimize drug-prescribing and drug use for patients 80 years and older.

The main objective was to reduce the number of hospital visits for patients 80-years old or older.

Design:

A randomized, controlled trial including 400 patients (200+200). Patients in the intervention group (I) received a patient interview on admission, drug counseling on discharge and a drug review - all performed by a clinical pharmacist. Patients in the control group (C) received standard care, without pharmacists´ involvement.

Patients were included between Oct 2005 and June 2006.

Setting:

Two wards at the Division of Acute-Medicine at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden

Main Outcome Measures:

1) Frequency of hospital visits 12 months after (last included patient) discharge from hospital for (I) and (C).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

400

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Uppsala, Sweden, 75185
        • Uppsala University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

80 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 80 years and older
  • Acute admission to study ward

Exclusion Criteria:

  • <80 years
  • Scheduled admission
  • Previously admitted to studyward during study period

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: C
Experimental: I
Intervention by team consisting of Doctor, pharmacist and nurse
Other: Drug review 80+ -To reduce usage of hospital care
drug review performed by multiprofessional team, including clinical pharmacist, in order to optimize drug therapy and reduce usage of hospital care. Also patient education and follow-up

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Effects on hospital visits
Time Frame: 1 year
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Uppsala University Hospital

Collaborators

Uppsala University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Henrik Toss, MD PhD, Uppsala University Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 14, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 17, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

April 18, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 5, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 4, 2008

Last Verified

October 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Uppsala80

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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