Deprescribing Hypertension Medication in Older Adults: Can It Lower Drug Burden Without Causing Harm?

Due to the high prevalence of older individuals with multiple morbidities, polypharmacy, and exposed to unnecessary or inappropriate treatments that can cause potentially serious adverse effects, better medication management should be an objective of all health professionals. This is particularly important in older patients with hypertension. Antihypertensive deprescribing and non-pharmacological strategies have been disseminated as viable and safe alternatives for improving the quality of care for hypertension in the older population.

Using a mobile application to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing for older Brazilian adults in primary care: a triple-blind randomised clinical trial.

Backgound: Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) has been evaluated in several countries, and several strategies have been devised for deprescribing drugs in older adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a mobile application in reducing PIP for older adults in primary care facilities in Brazil.

Methods: This randomised, triple-blind, parallel-group trial was conducted in 22 public primary care facilities in Brazil.

Physicians' and nurses' perspective on chronic disease care practices in Primary Health Care in Brazil: a qualitative study.

Background: Primary health care-oriented systems provide better healthcare, especially for chronic diseases. This study analyzed the perspectives of physicians and nurses performing care for patients with chronic diseases in Primary Health Care in a Brazilian city.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil, using semi-structured interviews with five physicians and 18 nurses.

Older people's knowledge of the purpose of drugs prescribed at primary care appointments.

Objective: This study aimed to assess older people's knowledge of the purpose of drugs prescribed at medical appointments in primary care units and the possible factors related to their level of knowledge about their medications.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 22 basic health units in Brazil. Patients aged ≥60 years were included in this study (n=674).

Comparison of cardiovascular risk calculators in patients with diabetes.

Objective: Cardiovascular risk stratification is an important clinical practice to estimate the severity of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to compare the stratification of global cardiovascular risk with the specific risk stratification for patients with type 2 diabetes, seen at specialized outpatient clinics, and to evaluate possible differences in diagnoses and treatments.

Methods: A total of 122 patients with type 2 diabetes treated at two specialized outpatient clinics, from 2017 to 2019, were studied.

Evaluation of blood pressure through home monitoring in brazilian primary care: a feasibility study.

Blood pressure measurements taken in a clinical setting are subject to errors, therefore there are advantages to monitoring blood pressure at home, especially in in patients diagnosed with hypertension. The study describes the feasibility of home monitoring to assess blood pressure in primary care and compares blood pressure measured at home and during a medical consultation. This cross-sectional study was carried out with patients whose used home blood pressure in the morning and evening, thrice for seven consecutive day sat home.

Gender Differences in the Quality of Life of Formal Workers.

Background: This study aimed to assess the quality of life associated with gender inequalities in formal workers and to determine the effect of sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral factors on the quality of life (QOL).

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 1270 workers. Quality of life was measured using the EUROHIS-QOL 8-Item and assessed in terms of psychological, environmental, social, and physical domains, while demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and clinical variables served as explanatory variables.

Unhealthy Food and Psychological Stress: The Association between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Perceived Stress in Working-Class Young Adults.

Background: Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made from food extracts or constituents with little or no intact food and often containing additives that confer hyper-palatability. The consumption of these products increases the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases. Stressed people may engage in unhealthy eating as a way to cope.

Physician and patient-related factors associated with inappropriate prescribing to older patients within primary care: a cross-sectional study in Brazil.

Background: Physician and patient-related characteristics can influence prescription of medications to older patients within primary healthcare. Use of Brazilian criteria may indicate the real prevalence of prescription of potentially inappropriate medications to this population.

Objectives: To evaluate prescription of potentially inappropriate medications to older patients within primary care and identify patient-related and prescribing physician-related factors.

Quality of Life and Associated Factors in Young Workers.

Background: This study aimed to identify the factors associated with the quality of life of young workers of a Social Work of Industry Unit.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 1270 workers. Data were collected using a digital questionnaire built on the KoBoToolbox platform that included the EUROHIS-QOL eight-item index to assess quality of life.

Cost-Effectiveness of Point-of-Care A1C Tests in a Primary Care Setting.

We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the point-of-care A1c (POC-A1c) test device vs. the traditional laboratory dosage in a primary care setting for people living with type 2 diabetes. The Markov model with a 10-year time horizon was based on data from the HealthRise project, in which a group of interventions was implemented to improve diabetes and hypertension control in the primary care network of the urban area of a Brazilian municipality.

Polypharmacy in older patients at primary care units in Brazil.

Background Despite extensive studies of polypharmacy in older patients, no consensus regarding the definition of this practice exists in the literature. Several studies have defined polypharmacy as problematic when considering only the numbers of medications used by patients. Objective This study aimed to assess the prevalence of polypharmacy prescribing by comparing two different definitions (quantitative and qualitative) and evaluating factors associated with this practice in older patients.

A comparison of the Beers and STOPP criteria for identifying the use of potentially inappropriate medications among elderly patients in primary care.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Explicit criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of medication use among the elderly have been extensively employed in several countries. The aim of the current study was to assess and characterize the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) according to the Screening Tool of Older People's Prescriptions (STOPP) criteria and compare these data with the 2012 Beers criteria.

Methods: A prospective survey of the medications used by elderly patients was performed.

Factors associated with potentially inappropriate medication use by the elderly in the Brazilian primary care setting.

Background: The exposure of elderly patients to potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) is associated with the increased use of health care services.

Objective: To evaluate both the prevalence of and the factors associated with the use of PIM by elderly patients who are being treated in primary healthcare facilities.

Setting: Family Health Programme centres in northeastern Brazil.