Role of community pharmacists in the detection of potentially inappropriate XXXX prescriptions for @entity22 .

@entity1 @entity73 @entity1245 @entity734 @entity22
UNASSIGNED: Background The appropriate management of @entity22 is crucial and prescribing of hypnotic drugs is common. Regular and prolonged use of hypnotics should be avoided because of the risk of tolerance to effects, @entity734 and an increased risk of adverse events. In 2012, updated Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication in older adults suggested to avoid all @entity1245 in older adults to treat @entity22 . In addition, successful discontinuation may result in improvements on @entity73 , particularly in older @entity1 . Objective To investigate the appropriateness of @entity1245 prescription for @entity22 and explore the role that community pharmacists can have in identifying signals of potential inappropriate drug prescriptions. Setting Community pharmacies in Italy. Method This is an observational study conducted in 8 community pharmacies. Each pharmacist was asked to interview a sample of @entity1 with the prescriptions of at least one @entity1245 and to complete a minimum data set collecting information about socio-demographic characteristics, drug indication, duration of drug prescription, number of hypnotic-drugs, previous attempt to drug-discontinuation, preference of @entity1 about @entity1245 withdrawal and modality of drug tapering. Main outcome measure Indications, treatment duration, dosage and drug discontinuation attempts and modalities. Results A total of 181 @entity1 were interviewed. About half of respondents (n  =  81) reported to be treated for @entity22 and 62  % were elderly (mean age 68, range 27-93). Fifty-two @entity1 (64  %) were on long term treatment (>3  years) while for thirteen @entity1 (16  %) duration of treatment was comprised between 1 and 3  years. Thirty-three @entity1 were in favour of @entity1245 -discontinuation but in all cases discontinuation was unsuccessful. Conclusion Use of community pharmacy survey data allowed us to obtain information about incorrect management of @entity22 and inappropriate @entity1245 prescriptions. Stricter adherence to evidence-based guidelines is essential for a rational use of hypnotic and sedatives.
