Investigating low intelligence stereotype threat in adults with developmental dyslexia.

Stereotype threat (ST) is a phenomenon that leads to decreased test performance and occurs when one deals with added pressure of being judged on the basis of stereotyped group membership. The ST effect has been previously investigated in many contexts but not in individuals with dyslexia who are often stereotyped as less intelligent. Prevalent use of intelligence tests in job selection processes and employment gap between people with dyslexia and those without warrants this investigation.

Responding to the Under-Utilisation of Necessary Health Care in the Time of COVID-19: A Precision Public Health intervention.

The Veterans' Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services (MATES) program is a national data driven, behaviorally informed, health intervention to improve the use of medicines among Australian veterans. The program, which has been operating since 2004, has led the way in the use of government held data assets to generate evidenced-based health information, which, when provided to clinicians alongside educational materials, can make demonstrable improvements in health and promote practice change.

Determinants of usefulness in professional behaviour change interventions: observational study of a 15-year national program.

Objective: Educational, and audit and feedback interventions are effective in promoting health professional behaviour change and evidence adoption. However, we lack evidence to pinpoint which particular features make them most effective. Our objective is to identify determinants of quality in professional behaviour change interventions, as perceived by participants.

Use of Medicines that May Exacerbate Heart Failure in Older Adults: Therapeutic Complexity of Multimorbidity.

Background: Multimorbidity is common in older patients with heart failure (HF), complicating therapeutic management and increasing the risk of harm.

Objective: This study sought to examine the prevalence of medicines for the treatment of comorbid conditions potentially associated with harm in older people, before and after HF hospitalization.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of older people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of HF over a 12-month period was conducted using administrative health claims data from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Australia.

Reducing hypnotic use in insomnia management among Australian veterans: results from repeated national interventions.

Background: The Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Veterans' Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services (Veterans' MATES) programme conducted two intervention (March 2009, follow-up intervention June 2012) both of which aimed to reduce hypnotic use among Australian veterans. We evaluated the effectiveness of the interventions, and estimated the associated health consequences.

Methods: Both interventions targeted veterans who had been dispensed hypnotics prior to the intervention.

The validity of the Rx-Risk Comorbidity Index using medicines mapped to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System.

Objectives: To provide a map of Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System codes to individual Rx-Risk comorbidities and to validate the Rx-Risk Comorbidity Index.

Design: The 46 comorbidities in the Rx-Risk Index were mapped to dispensing's indicative of each condition using ATC codes. Prescription dispensing claims in 2014 were used to calculate the Rx-Risk.

Apixaban, concomitant medicines and spontaneous reports of haemorrhagic events.

Introduction: Little is known about the potential safety issues associated with apixaban in clinical practice and their reporting in spontaneous adverse event (SAE) databases.

Objective: To describe SAE reports associated with the oral anticoagulant apixaban from Australia, Canada and USA and to examine associated concomitant medicine use.

Methods: SAE report databases from Australia, Canada and the USA were examined for all reports of adverse events associated with apixaban and concomitant medicines from 1 January 2012 to 30 September 2014.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Antipsychotic Use and Risk of Dementia in Veterans.

Objectives: To examine the risk of dementia associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the contribution of antipsychotic use to this risk.

Design: Retrospective cohort study SETTING: Australia. Administrative claims data from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs were used.

Understanding 30-day re-admission after hospitalisation of older patients for diabetes: identifying those at greatest risk.

Objective: To identify factors that contribute to older Australians admitted to hospital with diabetes being re-hospitalised within 30 days of discharge.

Design, Setting And Participants: A retrospective cohort study of Department of Veterans' Affairs administrative data for all patients hospitalised for diabetes and discharged alive during the period 1 January - 31 December 2012.

Main Outcome Measures: Causes of re-hospitalisation and prevalence of clinical factors associated with re-hospitalisation within 30 days of discharge.

Use of proton pump inhibitors among older Australians: national quality improvement programmes have led to sustained practice change.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of national multifaceted initiatives to improve use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on the use of PPIs among older Australians.

Design: Interrupted time series analysis using administrative health claims data from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA).

Setting: Australia.

Central Nervous System-Acting Medicines and Risk of Hospital Admission for Confusion, Delirium, or Dementia.

Background: Most studies assessing the effect of central nervous system (CNS)-acting medicines on cognitive disturbances have focused on the use of individual medicines. The impact on cognitive function when another CNS-acting medicine is added to a patient's treatment regimen is not well known.

Objective: To determine risk of hospitalization for confusion, delirium, or dementia in older people associated with increasing numbers of CNS-acting medicines taken concurrently, as well as the number of standard doses taken each day (measured as defined daily doses).

Commitment questions targeting patients promotes uptake of under-used health services: Findings from a national quality improvement program in Australia.

Rationale: Interventions asking patients to commit to speaking with their doctor about a health-related issue could be used to improve quality of care.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of commitment questions targeting patients on the uptake of recommended health services within a national quality improvement program (Veterans' MATES).

Methods: Patients targeted in the home medicines reviews (HMRs), dose administration aids (DAAs), renal function testing and diabetes interventions were posted educational information and response forms which asked whether they intended to talk to their general practitioner (GP) about the targeted service.

A cross-country comparison of rivaroxaban spontaneous adverse event reports and concomitant medicine use with the potential to increase the risk of harm.

Background: Concerns with the safety profiles of the newer anticoagulants have been raised because of differences in treatment populations between pre-marketing studies (randomized controlled trials) and clinical practice. Little is known about the potential safety issues and the reporting in spontaneous adverse event databases associated with rivaroxaban.

Objectives: To analyse spontaneous adverse event reports associated with the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban from Australia, Canada and the USA; and to examine concomitant medicine use that may increase the risk of adverse events.

Multiple anticholinergic medication use and risk of hospital admission for confusion or dementia.

Objectives: To identify the association between use of multiple anticholinergic medications and risk of hospitalization for confusion or dementia.

Design: Retrospective cohort study conducted over 2 years between July 2010 and June 2012, using administrative claims data from the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Setting: Australia.

Association between use of multiple psychoactive medicines and hospitalization for falls: retrospective analysis of a large healthcare claim database.

Background: Little is known about the impact of taking multiple psychoactive medicines on the risk of hospitalization for falls.

Objective: To identify the association between multiple psychoactive medicine use and hospitalization for falls.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted between July 2011 and June 2012 in the Australian veteran population who had been dispensed at least one psychoactive medicine within the previous year.

An international comparison of spontaneous adverse event reports and potentially inappropriate medicine use associated with dabigatran.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyse spontaneous adverse event (SAE) reports associated with the oral anticoagulant dabigatran from Australia, Canada and USA and to examine concomitant medicine use.

Methods: Spontaneous adverse event national databases from Australia, Canada and the USA were used to examine all reports of adverse events associated with dabigatran from 1st August 2005 to 31st March 2013. Disproportionality analysis was conducted for the quantitative detection of signals using the USA database.

Risk of medication-associated initiation of oxybutynin in elderly men and women.

Objectives: To determine whether there is greater risk of initiation of oxybutynin to treat urinary incontinence (UI) after initiation of medicines reported to be associated with UI.

Design: Prescription sequence symmetry analysis (PSSA).

Setting: Administrative claims data from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Bridging evidence-practice gaps: improving use of medicines in elderly Australian veterans.

Background: The Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) funds an ongoing health promotion based program to improve use of medicines and related health services, which implements interventions that include audit and feedback in the form of patient-specific feedback generated from administrative claims records. We aimed to determine changes in medicine use as a result of the program.

Methods: The program provides targeted patient-specific feedback to medical practitioners.

Prevalence of preventable medication-related hospitalizations in Australia: an opportunity to reduce harm.

Objective: To identify the prevalence of potentially preventable medication-related hospitalizations amongst elderly Australian veterans by applying clinical indicators to administrative claims data.

Design And Setting: Retrospective cohort study in the Australian veteran population from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2008.

Participants: A total of 109 044 veterans with one or more hospitalizations defined by the medication-related clinical indicator set, during the 5-year study period.

Charlson and Rx-Risk comorbidity indices were predictive of mortality in the Australian health care setting.

Objective: To compare the performance of Charlson index and Rx-Risk score using data from Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Study Design And Setting: A study of older adults (N=94,714) who had both Charlson and Rx-Risk scores based on their hospital diagnoses and prescription medication dispensings during the baseline year (January 2005-December 2005). Predictive ability of 1-year and 3-year mortality was compared by Akaike information criterion model fit statistic and c statistic in logistic regression models.

Prevalence of potentially hazardous drug interactions amongst Australian veterans.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT * Up to 21% of adverse drug event related hospital admissions are due to drug interactions. Clinical significance of drug interactions varies. * Studies which only identified drug interactions of potentially major clinical significance found lower prevalence, of between 2 and 16%.

The effectiveness of collaborative medicine reviews in delaying time to next hospitalization for patients with heart failure in the practice setting: results of a cohort study.

Background: Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that collaborative medication reviews can improve outcomes for patients with heart failure. We aimed to determine whether these results translated into Australian practice, where collaborative reviews are nationally funded.

Methods And Results: This retrospective cohort study using administrative claims data included veterans 65 years and older receiving bisoprolol, carvedilol, or metoprolol succinate for which prescribing physicians indicated treatment was for heart failure.

Assessing overall duration of cardiovascular medicines in veterans with established cardiovascular disease.

Background: This study aimed to determine persistence, adherence, and time without therapy with cardiovascular medicines over all episodes of use among veterans following hospitalization for ischemic heart disease.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using Department of Veterans' Affairs database including 9635 veterans with a hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction, angina, or ischemic heart disease, and who had been dispensed cardiovascular medicines in the 3 months posthospitalization. The main outcome measures were duration of first treatment episode, duration of overall treatment episode, and adherence with recommended therapies: angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), lipid-lowering therapy, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), beta-blockers, and antiplatelet therapy.

Validity of medication-based co-morbidity indices in the Australian elderly population.

Objectives: To determine the validity of two medication-based co-morbidity indices, the Medicines Disease Burden Index (MDBI) and Rx-Risk-V in the Australian elderly population.

Methods: In Phase I, the sensitivity and specificity of both indices were determined in 767 respondents from wave 6 of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA). Medication-defined index disease categories were compared to self-reported medical conditions.