Assessment of palliative care team activities--survey of medications prescribed immediately before and at the beginning of opioid usage.
We established the Terminal Care Study Group, consisting of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, in September 2001, and developed the group into the Palliative Care Team. We have surveyed the state of concomitant medications immediately before and at the beginning of opioid usage (except injections) to assess the role of the Palliative Care Team. The survey period was 3 years from October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2005. While the frequency of the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), laxatives, or antiemetics before the beginning of opioid administration did not differ significantly among the 3 periods, that at the beginning of opioid administration increased significantly in 2003 compared with 2002, and increased further in 2004. Many of the drugs used were those that were recommended in our cancer pain management program. Thus, the activities of the Palliative Care Team are considered to have led to proper measures for the control of the major adverse effects of opioids such as constipation and nausea/vomiting in addition to pain control in accordance with the WHO's pain ladder, and also contributed to improvements of the patients' QOL.
Myotoku
Michiaki
M
Laboratory of Clinical Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Osaka Ohtani University, Tondabayashi City, Japan. myoutom@osaka-ohtani.ac.jp
Murayama
Yoko
Y
Nakanishi
Akiko
A
Hashimoto
Norio
N
Koyama
Fumiko
F
Irishio
Keiko
K
Kawaguchi
Syunichi
S
Yamaguchi
Seiji
S
Ikeda
Kenji
K
Hirotani
Yoshihiko
Y
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000932:Antiemetics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D054368:Laxatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D010166:Palliative Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000932:Antiemetics; D054368:Laxatives