What happens to therapeutic changes decided during hospitalization in an internal medicine ward? A two-month single-centre prospective study in France

• Published in: La revue de medecine interne 2014-08, Vol.35 (8), p.498-502
• Main Authors: Coutellier, M, Mouly, S, Delcey, V, Lopes, A, Lloret-Linares, C, Bergmann, J-F
• Format: Article
• Language: fre
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analgesics - therapeutic use; Anticoagulants - therapeutic use; Antihypertensive Agents - therapeutic use; Benzodiazepines - therapeutic use; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Dietary Supplements - statistics & numerical data; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals, University; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents - administration & dosage; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; Inpatients - statistics & numerical data; Internal Medicine; Male; Medication Adherence - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Paris; Prescription Drugs; Prospective Studies; Proton Pump Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Risk Factors; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1768-3122
• DOI: 10.1016/j.revmed.2014.04.014

During a hospitalization in an internal medicine department, drug prescriptions are frequently modified. We studied the course of these therapeutic changes after patients' discharge. Eighty-four patients with a long-term drug prescription and a registered general practitioner were included on the day of their discharge from an internal medicine department in Paris. Their medications before and after the hospitalization were established according to the discharge letter, and patients were contacted two months after discharge in order to assess the modifications that could have occurred during these two months after discharge. Medications prescribed before the admission were often preserved, 17.7% were withdrawn, and 7% were switched to another medication. Two months after discharge, 85% of the modifications were maintained, the discharge drug prescription was renewed without a change for 77% of the patients. The drug classes that were the more frequently modified during the hospital stay were the antihypertensive therapies, with 65% of sustained modifications at two months, and analgesics, with 75% of sustained modifications. Therapeutic changes that were explained in the discharge letter were more frequently preserved at two months than those that were not explained (100% versus 79%, 95%CI of the difference [0.09-0.27]; P