Missed opportunities: unnecessary medicine use in patients with lung cancer at the end of life: an international cohort study.

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Missed opportunities: unnecessary medicine use in patients with lung cancer at the end of life: an international cohort study.

Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2018 Sep 05;:

Authors: Todd A, Al-Khafaji J, Akhter N, Kasim A, Quibell R, Merriman K, Holmes H

Abstract
AIMS: To (1) examine the prescribing of preventative medication in a cohort of people with advanced lung cancer on hospital admission and discharge across different healthcare systems; (2) explore the factors that influence preventative medication prescribing at hospital discharge.
METHODS: A retrospective cohort study across two centers in the United Kingdom and the United States. The prescribing of preventative medication was examined at hospital admission and discharge for patients who died of lung cancer; a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was used to exam the association between preventative medications at discharge and patient- and hospital-based factors. Classes of preventative medication included: vitamins and minerals, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-lipid, and anti-platelet medications.
RESULTS: In the UK site (n=125 people), the mean number of preventative medications was 1.9 (SD ± 1.7) on admission, and 1.7 (SD ± 1.7) on discharge, whilst in the US site (n=191 people) the mean was 2.6 (SD ± 2.2) on admission and 1.9 (SD ± 2.2) on discharge. The model found a significant association between the number of preventative drugs on admission and the number of preventative medications on discharge; the model also found a significant association between the total number of drugs on discharge and the number of preventative medications on discharge. Other indicators related to patient and hospital factors were not significantly associated with preventative medications supplied on discharge.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of preventative medication was common in lung cancer patients, despite undergoing discharge. Patient-based and hospital-based factors did not influence the prescribing of preventative medication.

PMID: 30187509 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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