Early therapeutic drug monitoring helps to identify inflammatory bowel disease patients with a high risk to fail thiopurine treatment.

Aims: Conventional thiopurines (azathioprine and mercaptopurine) remain standard therapy to maintain steroid sparing remission in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but are regularly discontinued due to adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Measurement of the metabolites 6-thioguanine nucleotides (6-TGN), 6-methylmercaptopurine ribonucleotides (6-MMPR) and the 6-MMPR/6-TGN ratio, may predict the development of these ADRs. Our aim was to evaluate whether early thiopurine metabolite measurements were associated with clinical outcomes.

Fall incidents in nursing home residents: development of a predictive clinical rule (FINDER).

Objectives: To develop (part I) and validate (part II) an electronic fall risk clinical rule (CR) to identify nursing home residents (NH-residents) at risk for a fall incident.

Design: Observational, retrospective case-control study.

Setting: Nursing homes.

The use of an electronic clinical rule to discontinue chronically used benzodiazepines and related Z drugs.

Purpose: The chronic use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs (BZ/Z) in older people is common and not without risks. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the implementation of a clinical rule promotes the discontinuation of chronically used BZ/Z for insomnia.

Methods: A clinical rule, generating an alert in case of chronic BZ/Z use, was created and applied to the nursing home (NH) setting.

Validation of an automated delirium prediction model (DElirium MOdel (DEMO)): an observational study.

Objectives: Delirium is an underdiagnosed, severe and costly disorder, and 30%-40% of cases can be prevented. A fully automated model to predict delirium (DEMO) in older people has been developed, and the objective of this study is to validate the model in a hospital setting.

Setting: Secondary care, one hospital with two locations.

Supporting clinical rules engine in the adjustment of medication (SCREAM): protocol of a multicentre, prospective, randomised study.

Background: In the nursing home population, it is estimated that 1 in every 3 patients is polymedicated and given their considerable frailty, these patients are especially prone to adverse drug reactions. Clinical pharmacist-led medication reviews are considered successful interventions to improve medication safety in the inpatient setting. Due to the limited available evidence concerning the benefits of medication reviews performed in the nursing home setting, we propose a study aiming to demonstrate a positive effect that a clinical decision support system, as a health care intervention, may have on the target population.

To what extent is clinical and laboratory information used to perform medication reviews in the nursing home setting? the CLEAR study.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate to what extent laboratory data, actual medication, medical history, and/or drug indication influence the quality of medication reviews for nursing home patients.

Methods: Forty-six health care professionals from different fields were requested to perform medication reviews for three different cases. Per case, the amount of information provided varied in three subsequent stages: stage 1, medication list only; stage 2, adding laboratory data and reason for hospital admission; and stage 3, adding medical history/drug indication.

Medication surveillance on intravenous cytotoxic agents: a retrospective study.

Background: Medication surveillance is not commonly performed for cytotoxic agents. Cytotoxic agents generally have a narrow therapeutic range and therefore it might be necessary to adjust the dose. Interactions may not only cause supratherapeutic ranges, but can also lead to subtherapeutic levels.

Toxic dermatitis in patients treated with Taxotere® (docetaxel): three case reports.

Three out of 25 patients receiving the same batch docetaxel, developed toxic dermatitis within 5 days after administration. Timing of occurrence was equal and symptoms were similar. Two patients continued with docetaxel without any problems.