[Impact of the HEARTS Initiative in a second-level health institution in ColombiaImpacto da iniciativa HEARTS em um estabelecimento de atenção secundária à saúde na Colômbia].

Objective: To identify the impact of the HEARTS initiative on patients with high blood pressure treated in a Colombian hospital.

Methods: Quasi-experimental, retrospective study between 2017 and 2019 with hypertensive patients over 18 years of age included in the HEARTS strategy and treated at the Santa Mónica Hospital in the municipality of Dosquebradas, department of Risaralda. The unit of analysis was medical history.

Long-term users of benzodiazepines in Colombia: Patterns of use and cessation of treatment.

Background: Benzodiazepines have low abuse potential, but patients often develop physical dependence and neurological impairments. The objective of this study was to investigate treatment cessation and use of high doses in long-term benzodiazepine users in Colombia.

Methods: Retrospective study.

Umbilical Myiasis by in an Infant in Colombia.

Myasis is the infestation by fly larvae (Diptera) in live vertebrates including humans. Myasis has been reported most commonly in tropical and subtropical areas around the world with poor sanitation and presence of cattle. Neonatal umbilical myiasis is an important cause of death in bovines and produces major economic losses in the livestock industry.

Medication errors in outpatient care in Colombia, 2005-2013.

Introduction: Medication errors outside the hospital have been poorly studied despite representing an important threat to patient safety.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of medication errors in outpatient dispensing pharmacists reported in a pharmaco-surveillance system between 2005 and 2013 in Colombia.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a descriptive study by reviewing and categorizing medication error reports from outpatient pharmacy services to a national medication dispensing company between January, 2005 and September, 2013.

High prevalence of risk factors in elderly patients using drugs associated with acquired torsades de pointes chronically in Colombia.

Aims: Medication is one of the main causes of long QT syndrome (LQTS) and torsades de pointes (TdP), and the older adult population is at particularly high risk. The aim of the present study was to describe the prescription patterns of drugs with a risk of TdP in the Colombian older adult population.

Methods: Patients older than 65 years who received medication with a risk of TdP during three consecutive months were selected.

Hospital medication errors in a pharmacovigilance system in Colombia.

Objective: this study analyzes the medication errors reported to a pharmacovigilance system by 26 hospitals for patients in the healthcare system of Colombia.

Methods: this retrospective study analyzed the medication errors reported to a systematized database between 1 January 2008 and 12 September 2013. The medication is dispensed by the company Audifarma S.

Time to and factors associated with insulin initiation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: Determine the time between the start of oral antidiabetic therapy (OAD) and the initiation of insulin therapy and to establish factors associated with insulin prescription among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Colombia.

Methods: Cohort, retrospective, population-based study. We identify patients with T2DM who started OAD therapy between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008, and a 5-year follow-up was performed.

Social, cultural and economic factors associated with self-medication.

Introduction: Self-medication is an increasingly frequent phenomenon worldwide; some studies suggest that there is a relationship with socio-economic and cultural factors.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of self-medication and its related factors in a Colombian city.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study, in Pereira, Colombia.