Comparison of the Short-Form Survey 12 and the MacNew Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life Survey among patients with cardiac disease.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an important outcome, especially for chronic diseases with no cure such as cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: To investigate the comparability of 2 HRQL instruments, the Short Form-12 (SF-12) survey and the MacNew Heart Disease HRQL survey (MacNew) in patients with cardiac diseases.

Methods: A nonexperimental cross-sectional study was conducted in a lipid clinic in the Houston metropolitan area.

Impact of bilingual product information labels on Spanish-speaking adults' ability to comprehend OTC information.

Background: There is a steady growth in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States. Language may be a barrier in accessing nonprescription medication information for the non-English-speaking population.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare consumer-reported ease of use, product knowledge, and intention to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) medications using bilingual Product Information Labels (PILs) and currently available label formats in a sample of Spanish-speaking consumers.

Disposition of flavonoids via enteric recycling: determination of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase isoforms responsible for the metabolism of flavonoids in intact Caco-2 TC7 cells using siRNA.

Our recent study indicates that microsomal glucuronidation rates are not predictive of the cellular glucuronide excretion rates and whole cell systems are needed to accurately determine the metabolic rates. This study aims to determine the contribution of UGT isoforms responsible for the metabolism of flavonoids in intact Caco-2 cells and cell lysates using siRNA. The results showed that UGT1A6 activities (as measured by p-nitrophenol glucuronidation) and expression were typically decreased 60-80% by siRNA treatment.

Online pharmacies: safety and regulatory considerations.

Sales of consumer products over the Internet have grown rapidly, including sales of pharmaceutical products. Online pharmacies mimic mail order pharmacies. To operate legally online, pharmacies must be licensed in every state in which sales occur.

Prevalence, mechanisms, and risk factors of carbapenem resistance in bloodstream isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

We examined the prevalence of various carbapenem resistance mechanisms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream isolates from a university-affiliated hospital. Isolates obtained in 2003 and 2004 were screened for meropenem/imipenem resistance, and clonality was assessed by repetitive-element-based polymerase chain reaction. The presence of carbapenemase and AmpC overexpression was ascertained by spectrophotometric assays.

The effect of adjunctive mood stabilizers on antipsychotic utilization pattern and health resource utilization for Medicaid enrollees with schizophrenia.

Background: Prescribing adjunctive mood stabilizers to manage schizophrenia is prevalent, despite the lack of substantial evidence to support the long-term use of this treatment regimen.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of using adjunctive mood stabilizers on antipsychotic utilization, total health expenditures, inpatient hospitalizations, long-term care stays, and emergency room (ER) visits for patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Georgia Medicaid claims from 1999 through 2001 were analyzed to identify recipients diagnosed with schizophrenia (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM]: 295.

Pharmacist-managed vaccination program increased influenza vaccination rates in cardiovascular patients enrolled in a secondary prevention lipid clinic.

Study Objectives: To determine whether a vaccination program in a pharmacist-managed secondary prevention lipid clinic increased influenza immunization rates in a high-risk population, and whether age or gender disparity existed among those vaccinated.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Large, multispecialty, group practice.

Outcomes of patients with prostate cancer receiving zoledronic acid or pamidronate for prevention of skeletal-related events.

Study Objective: To determine the relative effectiveness of two bisphosphonates--pamidronate and zoledronic acid--for preventing skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with prostate cancer metastatic to bone.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Large, tertiary care cancer center.

Pretreatment with empty liposomes attenuates the immunopathology of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in corticosteroid-immunosuppressed mice.

In a nonneutropenic murine model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, pretreatment with empty liposomes (E-lipo) was nearly as effective as 10 mg/kg of body weight liposomal amphotericin B and superior to 1 mg/kg amphotericin B deoxycholate. The beneficial immunomodulatory properties of E-lipo appear to compensate for their lack of direct antifungal activity.

Factors that affect academic performance among pharmacy students.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine factors such as academic competence, test competence, time management, strategic studying, and test anxiety, and identify whether these factors could distinguish differences among students, based on academic performance and enrollment in the experiential program.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design utilizing questionnaires measuring previously validated constructs was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on students with low and high cumulative grade point averages (GPAs). Pharmacy students (N = 198) enrolled at the University of Houston participated in the study.

Effect of incentives on student performance on Milemarker examinations.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of incentives on student performance on comprehensive cumulative examinations administered at the College of Pharmacy, University of Houston.

Methods: This study is a retrospective longitudinal study conducted over a period of 6 years, from 2000 to 2005. Passing rates on the cumulative examinations administered during the first 3 years of the doctor of pharmacy curriculum were obtained.

Comparative performance of different stochastic methods to simulate drug exposure and variability in a population.

Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs) are increasingly being used to predict the pharmacokinetic variability of antimicrobials in a population. However, various MCS approaches may differ in the accuracy of the predictions. We compared the performance of 3 different MCS approaches using a data set with known parameter values and dispersion.

Off-label use of antidepressant, anticonvulsant, and antipsychotic medications among Georgia medicaid enrollees in 2001.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with the off-label use of antidepressant, anticonvulsant, and antipsychotic medications.

Method: A retrospective analysis of Georgia Medicaid recipients was conducted. Recipients prescribed antidepressant, anticonvulsant, or antipsychotic medications were identified.

Timing of vancomycin prophylaxis for cardiac surgery patients and the risk of surgical site infections.

Background: Increased incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus species has required some hospitals to choose vancomycin for surgical prophylaxis. Guidelines for appropriate timing of vancomycin prophylaxis state that the infusion should begin within 120 min before the first surgical incision. However, no studies have investigated the proper timing of vancomycin prophylaxis in relationship to surgical site infections (SSI).

Decision making in antifungal monotherapy versus combination therapy.

The availability of new antifungal agents with novel mechanisms of action and improved tolerability has widened the possibilities for combination therapy for difficult-to-treat opportunistic mycoses. However, empiricism largely governs this therapy, especially in patients with invasive mould infections for whom there is a dire need to improve outcomes. Because of difficulties associated with the design and conduct of clinical trials of combination therapy for opportunistic mycoses, most studies are still performed in the laboratory or in animal models.

Prevalence of diarrhea at a university hospital and association with modifiable risk factors.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of diarrhea at a university-affiliated medical center and the presence of modifiable risk factors.

Methods: A point prevalence survey was conducted. All patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours were asked if they were experiencing diarrhea.

An integrated pharmacoeconomic approach to antimicrobial formulary decision-making.

Purpose: The utility of a novel interdisciplinary approach to antimicrobial formulary decision-making was studied.

Methods: Pseudomonas aeruginosa minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) distribution data for cefepime and ceftazidime were retrieved from nonrepeat isolates obtained from November 2002 to October 2003. Unbound drug exposures were simulated for 5000 patients using the Monte Carlo method.

Tolerance of vancomycin for surgical prophylaxis in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and incidence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus colonization.

Background: In 2001, vancomycin replaced cefuroxime for antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing cardiac surgery at our institution due to high rates of surgical site infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus spp. However, few data supported the use of vancomycin for surgical prophylaxis.

Objective: To determine the tolerance of vancomycin for antibiotic prophylaxis and incidence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in cardiac surgery patients.

Treatment failures secondary to drug interactions with divalent cations and fluoroquinolone.

We observed four cases of therapeutic failures while patients were simultaneously taking medications that contained divalent cations and oral fluoroquinolones. Patients improved after conversion to the intravenous formulation of the same antibiotics, proper spacing of the divalent cation, or conversion to a different antibiotic class. Patients prescribed oral fluoroquinolones should receive instructions on proper separations of these antibiotics with divalent cations.

Comparison of beta-lactams in counter-selecting resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Suppression of resistance in a dense population of Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been shown with optimized quinolone exposures. However, relevance to the beta-lactams is questionable because of the unknown impact of the inoculum effect. We explored the bactericidal activity of various beta-lactams and their propensity to suppress spontaneous resistance.

Murine model of invasive aspergillosis.

The growing importance of infectious caused by Aspergillus species during the last decade has created a need for practical and reproducible animal models of invasive aspergillosis suitable for studying fungal virulence, infection pathogenesis, diagnostic markers, and testing of antifungal therapy. Murine models remain the most commonly used models for studying aspergillosis because of their ease of manipulation and the large number of reagents available for studying disease-host responses. This chapter provides describes a murine model of invasive aspergillosis suitable for basic and translational studies of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and highlights experimental variables that affect the course and reproducibility of infection.

Obstruction of critical information on over-the-counter medication packages by external tags.

Background: Over-the-counter (OTC) medication packages are important sources of information for consumers during product selection and use. Consumers may not be able to access information from OTC packages if external tags, namely price or anti-theft tags, are improperly placed.

Objective: To determine the amount and type of information concealed by anti-theft tags and price tags affixed on OTC drug packages.