In total, the number of medications taken was 1532 (mean per patient, 12; range 1 to 21). Of the 1532 medicines

assessed, 238 (16%) were considered to be inappropriate given the patients limited life expectancy. this website Out of the 132 patients assessed, 92 (70%) were taking at least one inappropriate medication. The most common therapeutic group considered inappropriate were the statins, which were prescribed in 35 patients (27%). The drug interaction recognition software identified a total of 267 potential drug interactions: 155 were considered non-significant, while 112 were classified as significant. Among those identified as significant, 92 were considered moderate while 20 were considered severe. In our study, discontinuing inappropriate medicine would prevent 57 non-significant, 23 moderate and 8 severe potential drug interactions. The most frequent major potential drug interaction that could be prevented by discontinuing inappropriate medication was

between simvastatin (>20 mg daily) and amlodipine, a well-defined drug interaction, which increases the risk of myopathy; this was identified in 4 patients. Our results show that the majority of people accessing the day care centre in a specialist palliative care unit are being prescribed many inappropriate medications in view of their life limiting illness. These inappropriate medications contribute to potential drug interactions and thereby increase the risk of patients developing drug-related toxicty. Our findings are consistent with the literature and build upon our previous work that showed patients with selleck chemicals llc advanced lung cancer take Florfenicol many inappropriate medications, some of which can potentially interact with chemotherapy and contribute to negative outcomes for patients.2 In conclusion, these findings demonstrate

there is potential for pharmacists to become involved in medication review for patients with limited life expectancy in order to faciliate discontinuation of inappropriate medication in the context of the origninal therapeutic goals. 1. Holmes HM, Hayley DC, Alexander GC et al. Reconsidering medication appropriateness for patients late in life. Archives of Internal Medicine 2006; 166: 605–609. 2. Todd A, Williamson S, Husband A, et al. Patients with advanced lung cancer: is there scope to discontinue inappropriate medication? International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy 2013; 35: 181–184. Abisola Ogunrinde, Reem Kayyali, Nilesh Patel Kingston University, Kingston Upon Thames, UK Community Pharmacists (CPs) opinions and engagement in practice research was sought Many CPs did not distinguish audits from research, however many pharmacists showed an interest in engaging with some form of practice research but felt they required support, such as training on research methods, to do so.