Factors associated with continuity of medication administration when patients transfer from hospital to residential aged care: a multicentre study Nearly one in four people transferred from hospital to residential aged care have medication doses missed or significantly delayed in the first 24 h. The r

This multicentre study highlights barriers to continuity of medication administration when patients transfer from hospital to #agedcare, and factors associated with reduced risk. These barriers need to be urgently addressed! #medicinesafety. connectsci.au/py/article/3...

Unfortunately, there are barriers to both the delivery and use of hospital-provided interim medication charts and discharge medications for patients discharged to aged care. These barriers need to be urgently addressed.

The median time from discharge to the first scheduled dose was <3 hours. Consequently, missed doses were common, and the risk of missed doses was reduced significantly when hospitals provided an interim medication administration chart and discharge medications.

It may surprise many people to hear that aged care medication charts were prepared or updated on the day of transfer for only 51.6% of patients, and updated medications were delivered to the RACF from their community pharmacy provider (packed in DAAs) on the day of transfer for only 45.6% patients!

Hospital pharmacist interventions to correct medication errors on discharge prescriptions: a prospective observational study At hospital discharge, many patients receive multiple, complex prescriptions, prepared by junior medical staff. Most Australian hospitals have pharmacists review discharge prescriptions to correct er....

Two thirds of patients' discharge prescriptions required hospital pharmacist intervention to correct errors. An important #medicinesafety consideration as we move toward paperless discharge prescriptions using electronic tokens sent directly to patients. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Polypharmacy's Association With Mortality: Confounding From Underlying Morbidity Background Studies consistently associate use of multiple medications with increased mortality. However, such studies often lack adequate adjustment for confounding, particularly from underlying dis.....

Polypharmacy's association with Mortality: confounding from underlying morbidity - Bjørk - 2025 - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society #geriatrics #polypharmacy agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Reduction of Antihypertensive Treatment in Nursing Home Residents | NEJM Among older adults with frailty, evidence on the benefits and risks of discontinuing antihypertensive drugs is limited. In a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial conducted in France, we assign...

Great to see an RCT evaluating antihypertensive #deprescribing in frail older people. No difference in mortality or adverse events in 'step-down' group vs usual care (number of antihypertensives fell from 2.6 to 1.5 vs 2.5 to 2.0). www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Congratulations Amy!!

BPS Publications People accessing aged care services are increasingly older and often experience multimorbidity and polypharmacy, which puts them at risk of medication-related harm. Quality indicators (QIs) can assi...

Quality indicators for safe and effective use of medications in long‐term care settings: A systematic review. #geriatrics #agedcare bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Psychotropic Medication Use in Older Adults in Australia: A Nationwide Data Linkage Study - Drugs & Aging Background and Objectives Psychotropic medications are associated with an increased risk of adverse drug events in older adults, yet national data on their use in Australia remain limited. This study ...

Almost one third of individuals aged 65+ years who received at least one PBS medication in 2021 used #psychotropic medications according to this nationwide data linkage study. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Addressing Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing for Older Primary Care Patients This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the association between interventions to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing for older primary care patients and changes in the number of me...

Systematic review: addressing potentially inappropriate prescribing for older primary care patients reduces no. of meds, with no change in adverse outcomes. #geriatrics jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Bleeding risk scores in atrial fibrillation—how should they influence decision-making for anticoagulants? Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac condition, and the prevalence of this rises rapidly with advancing age, affecting up to 17% of people aged ≥80

Bleeding risk scores in atrial fibrillation—how should they influence decision-making for anticoagulants in older people? #geriatrics #medicinesafety url: academic.oup.com/ageing/artic...

Regular Medications Administered to Older Adults in Aged Care Facilities: A Retrospective Descriptive Study Aim(s) To explore which regularly prescribed medications are most commonly administered to older adults in aged care facilities in Australia, by whom and when, and to identify the prevalence of poly...

Interesting insights around use of regular medications in aged care facilities, from a nationally representative sample from Australia. #agedcare #geriatrics onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New issue of Australian Prescriber out now. Read the latest on #contraception, #psoriasis. #hairloss, #opioid dependence, #pharmacogenomics, plus new drugs and medicine safety updates. australianprescriber.tg.org.au

Detection of Potential Prescribing Cascades in Multimorbid Older Patients Hospitalised with Acute Illness—An Observational Prospective Prevalence Study - Drugs & Aging Background Prescribing cascades occur when a new drug is prescribed to treat an adverse drug event caused by an existing medication, resulting in unnecessary, or potentially hazardous additional drugs...

In this study, prescribing cascades were identified in 12.4% of older patients admitted to hospital. #geriatrics #prescribingcascades link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Latest podcast from Australian Prescriber: a quick update on RSV prevention and management australianprescriber.tg.org.au/podcast/epis...

Penicillin allergy delabeling in long-term care facilities: if not now, then when? #AgedCare #AntimicrobialStewardship
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

International Deprescribing Guidelines Did Not Impact Actual Practice in Deprescribing of Potentially Inappropriate Medications for Nursing Home Residents: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis - Drugs ... Background Deprescribing guidelines reduce the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in trial settings; however, their real-world impact remains unclear. Therefore, this study assesses d...

Interesting, but not surprising findings about #deprescribing in older people in the last months of life. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Discrepancies in medication lists after hospital discharge in patients with multiple long-term conditions Inadequate information flow in the transition from hospital to home poses a challenge to medication safety, especially for patients with multiple long…

An age-old and global problem. More needs to be done to ensure accurate discharge summaries. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

RSV: an update on prevention and management The RSV prevention landscape has changed. Recent approval of RSV vaccines and a long-acting RSV monoclonal antibody has created opportunities to prevent severe RSV infections in infants and older adul...

Timely article on #RSV infection and its prevention in the latest issue of Australian Prescriber. australianprescriber.tg.org.au/articles/RSV...

This recent article from the same journal may also be of interest: australianprescriber.tg.org.au/articles/the...

Sharing this summary of research output from the Austin Health Pharmacy Department, in Melbourne, Australia. 2024 was another productive year. You can read our Annual Reports on our website at: austin.org.au/pharmacy-res...
#qualityimprovement, #research