Projects & Collaborations 27 foundShow per page10 10 20 50 Vitamin D 24'000 IU for oral intermittent supplementation (DO-IT) Research Project | 5 Project MembersVitamin D deficiency (defined as 25(OH)-vitamin D serum level <50 nmol/l) is cured with oral supplementation. National guidelines recommend the administration of 800 IU cholecalciferol daily for an effective treatment, especially during the winter (poor sun exposition). Cumulative intermittent administration monthly (24'000 IU) or weekly (5'600 IU) is possible. Commercially available intermittent pharmaceutical forms in Switzerland are liquid (oily or alcoholic solution). However, conventional dosing of 800 IU (daily or cumulative per week/month) is often inadequate to obtain optimal serum value >75 nmol/l. The study aims at comparing the rise of vitamin D3 levels after treatment between newly developed soft capsules and monthly solution (primary outcome), and to evaluate the effect of a loading dose (without infringing the cumulative maximal dose of 4'000 IU per day) on the achievement of optimal values >75 nmol/l (secondary outcome). The investigators will use newly developed soft capsules and alcoholic solution, which are commercially available in Switzerland. Cobalamin deficiency in ambulatory individuals: awareness and preferences for substitution Research Project | 7 Project MembersDeficiency of cobalamin (vitamin B12) is determined in laboratory with various strategies that measure different biomarkers such as vitamin B12, holotranscobolamin or both simultaneously. However, patient history and clinical signs should also be considered when posing the diagnosis. We aim at exploring which laboratory strategy is cost-efficient in the clinical setting. We will analyse retrospectively laboratory data. We also aim at investigating the awareness of cobalamin deficiency in the population at risk (such as older adults, vegetarians, vegans). We will determine patient preferences for substitution treatment that guarantees best medication adherence. We wil conduct focus group discussions. NT-proBNP and medication adherence (LabAdhDoc) Research Project | 5 Project MembersA functional classification exists for hearth failure (HF) that shows however poor relationship to the severy of symptoms. Guidelines recommend to measure the biomarker N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) to support clinical decision. Non-adherence to prescribed HF treatment may lead ultimately to hospitalization and mortality. Guidelines recommend multidisciplinary management and monitoring. In medical practices, electronic health records (EHR) are often locally configured. Nevertheless, laboratory results are transmitted in digital form. We aim at monitoring adherence to HF treatment with an electronic device (Time4Med) in ambulatory patients and transmit the adherence record in analogy to laboratory values of NT-proBNP. In a further step, we will evaluate the contribution of the adherence report to the treatment adaptation and ultimately to HF patients' outcomes. Pain management in opioid-dependent individuals with opioid agonist treatment (OAT) Research Project | 4 Project MembersAddiction treatment programs exist for opioid-dependent individuals. One intervention is the prescription of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) to replace the illegal agent. However, health providers often consider that using methadone, buprenorphine or long-acting morphine in OAT provides sifficient analgesia. Thus, when hospitalized, individuals with OAT are often less likely to obtain effective analgesic produts. We aim at inevstigating pain management in hospitalized individuals with OAT. We performed a secondary analysis of existing data from the University Hospital Basel with the purpose to evaluate the quality of patient care. Implementation of the pharmaceutical care service "TopCompliance" Research Project | 3 Project MembersCommunity pharmacy teams are best positioned to address medication adherence in daily encounters with patients. However, in daily pharmacy practice, the extent of medication adherence counselling and services appear to be marginal. Advances in telecommunication technologies and the widespread use of mobile phone and text messages services may help to overcome non-adherence. The software application TopCompliance has been designed to remind patients via text messages that a refill is due soon. The novelty is the calculation of the day of the reminder message according to an algorithm that uses pill counts, thus avoiding alert fatigue. We aim to implementing the service in community pharmacies. Implementation strategy for pharmaceutical care services in community pharmacies (fokus°PDCA) Research Project | 3 Project MembersCommunity pharmacies are in the best position to provide services to the population such as counselling on medication therapy management, vaccinating, or improving medication adherence, among others. In the last years, two major services have been cancelled in Europe: the MUR (Medication Use Review) in the UK and the PMC (Polymedikation-Check) in Switzerland, questioning the success of nationwide implementation. In this project, a strategy for the individualized implementation of services on pharmacy-level has been developed. It will be tested in community pharmacies starting new services such as vaccination or screening for covid-19. Counselling on STIs during emergency contraception dispense in community pharmacies Research Project | 4 Project MembersSince 2002, Swiss community pharmacists dispense emergency contraception (EC) as pharmacist-only medicine. During unprotected sexual intercourse, the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) rises. Especially Chlamydia infection is highly present among young women in Switzerland. Thus, addressing the risk of STI during a consultation on EC might represent a public health intervention. We aim at investigating if community pharmacists address the risk of STI during a counselling consultation on EC. We will conduct a simulated patient study with 5th year Pharmacy students. Medication adherence at SPITEX Basel Research Project | 3 Project MembersSPITEX stands for " spitalexterne Hilfe, Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege " and is an organisaion providing care and support services to individuals of all ages at home. When a person newly applies for SPITEX services, a case manager will assess patient needs during a first visit and use the tool Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC). Within this tool, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) contains the question P6 that assesses medication adherence. The case manager estimates if the client is adhrent to his/her medication «always», «80% of the time or more» or «less than 80% of the time». We aim at investigating the subjective criteria used by the case managers of SPITEX Basel to assess patient medication adherence, and to explore whether the question P6 and the answer options are appropriate. We will perform a secondary analysis of first MDS assessments in 2017/2018 and focus groud discussion with SPITEX case managers. Outpatients' barriers to optimal medication adherence with oral antibiotics (BIOTICA questionnaire) Research Project | 4 Project MembersNon-adherence rate to oral antibiotics (AB) reaches 57% after 24 months and is similar to the non-adherence rate to long-term treatments in coronary heart diseases. Thus, understanding patient barriers to oral AB treatment, and intervening accordingly to resolve those barriers could represent a crucial intervention to ameliorate adherence to oral AB. We aimed at developing a self-report questionnaire to assess barriers to oral antibiotics that hinder adherence. We will perform focus group discussions enriched by a literature search. Vaidation of the questionnaire will be performed in community pharmacies. EMILIA (eMedikationsplan nach Spitalaustritt im Kanton Aargau) Research Project | 2 Project MembersIn Switzerland at hospital discharge most of the patients receive a discharge prescription and some hospital provide additionally a medication plan to the patients. There is limited data about the journey of the patients in the health care system after discharge and about the strategies used to overcome difficulties after discharge from Swiss hospitals. To our knowledge no systematic analysis of interventions performed by the community pharmacy during the counselling of patients discharged from hospital are published so far. Furthermore, an electronic patient record will be legally required to be offered to patients by Swiss law until the year 2020 for hospitals and in 2022 for specific health care professionals.( https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20111795/index.html ) Thus, evaluation of the new e‑medication plan in a pilot study would provide valuable information for the implementation and further improvement of the electronic tool in view of the release of the electronic patient record. The goal of our project is to evaluate the new e‑medication plan with respect to acceptance and satisfaction of different stakeholders and to investigate the related interventions performed by community pharmacies in patients accepting the new e-medication plan upon discharge from the Kantonsspital Baden. 123 123
Vitamin D 24'000 IU for oral intermittent supplementation (DO-IT) Research Project | 5 Project MembersVitamin D deficiency (defined as 25(OH)-vitamin D serum level <50 nmol/l) is cured with oral supplementation. National guidelines recommend the administration of 800 IU cholecalciferol daily for an effective treatment, especially during the winter (poor sun exposition). Cumulative intermittent administration monthly (24'000 IU) or weekly (5'600 IU) is possible. Commercially available intermittent pharmaceutical forms in Switzerland are liquid (oily or alcoholic solution). However, conventional dosing of 800 IU (daily or cumulative per week/month) is often inadequate to obtain optimal serum value >75 nmol/l. The study aims at comparing the rise of vitamin D3 levels after treatment between newly developed soft capsules and monthly solution (primary outcome), and to evaluate the effect of a loading dose (without infringing the cumulative maximal dose of 4'000 IU per day) on the achievement of optimal values >75 nmol/l (secondary outcome). The investigators will use newly developed soft capsules and alcoholic solution, which are commercially available in Switzerland.
Cobalamin deficiency in ambulatory individuals: awareness and preferences for substitution Research Project | 7 Project MembersDeficiency of cobalamin (vitamin B12) is determined in laboratory with various strategies that measure different biomarkers such as vitamin B12, holotranscobolamin or both simultaneously. However, patient history and clinical signs should also be considered when posing the diagnosis. We aim at exploring which laboratory strategy is cost-efficient in the clinical setting. We will analyse retrospectively laboratory data. We also aim at investigating the awareness of cobalamin deficiency in the population at risk (such as older adults, vegetarians, vegans). We will determine patient preferences for substitution treatment that guarantees best medication adherence. We wil conduct focus group discussions.
NT-proBNP and medication adherence (LabAdhDoc) Research Project | 5 Project MembersA functional classification exists for hearth failure (HF) that shows however poor relationship to the severy of symptoms. Guidelines recommend to measure the biomarker N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) to support clinical decision. Non-adherence to prescribed HF treatment may lead ultimately to hospitalization and mortality. Guidelines recommend multidisciplinary management and monitoring. In medical practices, electronic health records (EHR) are often locally configured. Nevertheless, laboratory results are transmitted in digital form. We aim at monitoring adherence to HF treatment with an electronic device (Time4Med) in ambulatory patients and transmit the adherence record in analogy to laboratory values of NT-proBNP. In a further step, we will evaluate the contribution of the adherence report to the treatment adaptation and ultimately to HF patients' outcomes.
Pain management in opioid-dependent individuals with opioid agonist treatment (OAT) Research Project | 4 Project MembersAddiction treatment programs exist for opioid-dependent individuals. One intervention is the prescription of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) to replace the illegal agent. However, health providers often consider that using methadone, buprenorphine or long-acting morphine in OAT provides sifficient analgesia. Thus, when hospitalized, individuals with OAT are often less likely to obtain effective analgesic produts. We aim at inevstigating pain management in hospitalized individuals with OAT. We performed a secondary analysis of existing data from the University Hospital Basel with the purpose to evaluate the quality of patient care.
Implementation of the pharmaceutical care service "TopCompliance" Research Project | 3 Project MembersCommunity pharmacy teams are best positioned to address medication adherence in daily encounters with patients. However, in daily pharmacy practice, the extent of medication adherence counselling and services appear to be marginal. Advances in telecommunication technologies and the widespread use of mobile phone and text messages services may help to overcome non-adherence. The software application TopCompliance has been designed to remind patients via text messages that a refill is due soon. The novelty is the calculation of the day of the reminder message according to an algorithm that uses pill counts, thus avoiding alert fatigue. We aim to implementing the service in community pharmacies.
Implementation strategy for pharmaceutical care services in community pharmacies (fokus°PDCA) Research Project | 3 Project MembersCommunity pharmacies are in the best position to provide services to the population such as counselling on medication therapy management, vaccinating, or improving medication adherence, among others. In the last years, two major services have been cancelled in Europe: the MUR (Medication Use Review) in the UK and the PMC (Polymedikation-Check) in Switzerland, questioning the success of nationwide implementation. In this project, a strategy for the individualized implementation of services on pharmacy-level has been developed. It will be tested in community pharmacies starting new services such as vaccination or screening for covid-19.
Counselling on STIs during emergency contraception dispense in community pharmacies Research Project | 4 Project MembersSince 2002, Swiss community pharmacists dispense emergency contraception (EC) as pharmacist-only medicine. During unprotected sexual intercourse, the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) rises. Especially Chlamydia infection is highly present among young women in Switzerland. Thus, addressing the risk of STI during a consultation on EC might represent a public health intervention. We aim at investigating if community pharmacists address the risk of STI during a counselling consultation on EC. We will conduct a simulated patient study with 5th year Pharmacy students.
Medication adherence at SPITEX Basel Research Project | 3 Project MembersSPITEX stands for " spitalexterne Hilfe, Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege " and is an organisaion providing care and support services to individuals of all ages at home. When a person newly applies for SPITEX services, a case manager will assess patient needs during a first visit and use the tool Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC). Within this tool, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) contains the question P6 that assesses medication adherence. The case manager estimates if the client is adhrent to his/her medication «always», «80% of the time or more» or «less than 80% of the time». We aim at investigating the subjective criteria used by the case managers of SPITEX Basel to assess patient medication adherence, and to explore whether the question P6 and the answer options are appropriate. We will perform a secondary analysis of first MDS assessments in 2017/2018 and focus groud discussion with SPITEX case managers.
Outpatients' barriers to optimal medication adherence with oral antibiotics (BIOTICA questionnaire) Research Project | 4 Project MembersNon-adherence rate to oral antibiotics (AB) reaches 57% after 24 months and is similar to the non-adherence rate to long-term treatments in coronary heart diseases. Thus, understanding patient barriers to oral AB treatment, and intervening accordingly to resolve those barriers could represent a crucial intervention to ameliorate adherence to oral AB. We aimed at developing a self-report questionnaire to assess barriers to oral antibiotics that hinder adherence. We will perform focus group discussions enriched by a literature search. Vaidation of the questionnaire will be performed in community pharmacies.
EMILIA (eMedikationsplan nach Spitalaustritt im Kanton Aargau) Research Project | 2 Project MembersIn Switzerland at hospital discharge most of the patients receive a discharge prescription and some hospital provide additionally a medication plan to the patients. There is limited data about the journey of the patients in the health care system after discharge and about the strategies used to overcome difficulties after discharge from Swiss hospitals. To our knowledge no systematic analysis of interventions performed by the community pharmacy during the counselling of patients discharged from hospital are published so far. Furthermore, an electronic patient record will be legally required to be offered to patients by Swiss law until the year 2020 for hospitals and in 2022 for specific health care professionals.( https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20111795/index.html ) Thus, evaluation of the new e‑medication plan in a pilot study would provide valuable information for the implementation and further improvement of the electronic tool in view of the release of the electronic patient record. The goal of our project is to evaluate the new e‑medication plan with respect to acceptance and satisfaction of different stakeholders and to investigate the related interventions performed by community pharmacies in patients accepting the new e-medication plan upon discharge from the Kantonsspital Baden.
