• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the status of drug misuse and abuse in community-dwelling elders. Methods: The participants in this study were elders who were 65 years or over, and lived in ChungNam province. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: All of the participants reported taking both prescription and non-prescription drugs, and 78.4% used two or more kinds of drugs. Of the elders, 74.5% reported that they did not receive any education about drug misuse and abuse. The mean score for behaviors related to drug misuse was 8.76. Conclusions: Results indicate that many elders take medicine frequently, but they do not have any knowledge about drugs and possible side effects. This lack of knowledge might mean that they continue to use and misuse prescription and non-prescription drugs. It is important that elders be provided with precise information about medicines.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.268-277
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• 2021

Background: Most antipsychotic drugs studies have been mainly conducted on side effects, randomized clinical trials, utilization rates, and trends. But there have been few studies on the influencing factors in elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influencing factors on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Methods: Active ingredients of antipsychotic drugs in Korea were selected according to the Korean Pharmaceutical Information Center (KPIC)'s classification. Data source was Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) claims data in 2020 and target patient group was the elderly patient group. We extracted patients who have been prescribed one or more antipsychotic drugs and visited only one medical institution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-test, negative binomial regression. Results: A number of outpatients were 245,197 and prescriptions were 1,379,092. Most characteristics of patients were 75-85 year's old, female, health insurance type, no disease (dementia, schizophrenia), atypical drugs, cci score (>2) and characteristics of medical institution were neurology in specialty, rural region, general hospitals. Results of regression showed that patient's characteristics and medical center characteristics had significant effect on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Conclusion: This study suggests that national policy of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients, with the consideration of the patients' and medical institutions' characteristics, is needed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2010

The prescription sheets for outpatients from July 2008 to June 2009 from 7 community pharmacies in Ulsan City were surveyed for the anti-inflammatory drug (AID) prescription pattern. The AID prescription rate of pediatricians and ENT physicians were 30.0% and 34.8%, respectively. The oral steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (SAIDs) were prescribed as much as 3.9% by pediatricians and 10.3% by ENT physicians. The chiefly prescribed oral SAID was prednisolone in pediatric clinics and methylprednisolone in ENT clinics. Meanwhile the prescription rate of oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was 22.5% by pediatricians and 21.4% in ENT physicians. The most favorable NSAIDs were propionate derivatives in both clinics. In case of externally-applied SAIDs, the prescription rate of pediatricians was 3.6% and that of ENT physicians was 2.8%. Among them, nasal spray, inhalant and gargle formulations for upper respiratory infection (URI) treatment occupied 35.8% of externally-applied SAIDs in pediatric clinics and 59.7% in ENT clinics. Further, it was observed that ENT physicians favored much stronger SAIDs in Group III of ATC classification (75.4% of externally-applied SAIDs) than pediatricians (49.2%). In the survey of AID combination rate, pediatric clinics showed much lower rate (1.4% of total AID prescriptions) than ENT clinics (7.5%). Among them, the combination rate of oral SAID and oral NSAID by ENT physicians (52.2% of total AID combinations) was much higher than pediatricians (36.6%), which might be over-prescription of AID agents. In conclusion, the AID prescription rate as well as AID combination rate, especially in SAID prescriptions, was much higher in ENT than pediatric clinics, which implies the higher confidency on AID drugs of ENT physicians even though the severity of patient's symptom could be considered.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.79-92
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• 2020

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prescription pattern of NSAIDs and GPAs in the arthritis patients over 65 years old to prevent the GI adverse events. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used agents to treat arthritis, can cause gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects. Recent guidelines recommend that moderate risk patients who have one or two risk factors, should be prescribed either combination of non-selective NSAID (nsNSAIDs) and gastroprotective agent (GPAs) or selective NSAID alone. Methods : Study population was National Patient Sample of 2011. Number of drugs used were 138 for NSAIDs and 21 for GPAs. Chi-square test was used to compare prescribing patterns. Results : The appropriate prescription rate follows the guideline was 11.2%: co-prescription with nsNSAID and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or misoprostol was 1.6% and selective NSAID alone was 9.6%. Inappropriate prescription rates were as follows: co-prescription with nsNSAID and Histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) or antiacid was 53.8% and nsNSAID alone was 35.0%. The appropriate prescription rate among the types of medical institute was 54.4% in tertiary hospital, 31.2% in secondary hospital, and 6.0% in primary hospital. The appropriate prescription rate among the regions was 19.4%, highest in Seoul and 4.2%, lowest in Jeju. The appropriate prescription rate among the medical departments was as follow: 12.2% in orthopaedic surgery, 11.0% in internal medicine, and 7.7% in other departments. Conclusion : This finding suggests the needs to revise the national medical insurance imbursement policy, provide continuing medical education about the guideline of medical doctors.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2002

This study was conducted to investigate the changes in patients and medical services before and after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing in Health Center. For the purpose of this study, prescription data of 5,890 prescribed patients in March 2000(before the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing) and 3,496 prescribed patients in March 2001(after the Separation) in 4 Health Centers located in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do were collected. For investigation of the change of character of prescribed patients and the disease, sex, age, chief diagnosis, the hind of medical insurance, days of visit, days of prescription were investigated by using National Health Insurance claim data. And for investigation of change of prescription, prescribed drugs per each claim, the use rate of antibiotics, injection, and high-price antiphlogistic drug were investigated for acute respiratory disease and musculoskeletal disease. The major results were as follows: For the changes of prescribed patients of each disease, patients with acute respiratory disease were decreased by 49.7% after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing than before the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing and patients with hypertension(18.1%), patients with musculoskeletal disease(70.5%), patients with diabetes(8.5%), patients with digestive organ disease(71.2%), patients with chronic respiratory disease(76.4%) were decreased. But patients with urethritis were increased by 66.7%. The mean Health Center visited days of prescribed patients decreased significantly after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing than before in both male and female(p<0.01) and in health insurance patients(p<0.01). For the each of the disease, hypertension, diabetes, musculoskeletal disease decreased. The mean prescribed days increased after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing than before(p<0.01). According to the kine of disease, the mean prescribed days increased after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing than before in all the diseases except the urethritis(p<0.01). For acute respiratory diseases, number of prescribed drugs per each claim decreased significantly after the Separation of Prescription and Dispensing(4.7 drugs) than before(4.9 drugs) and the prescription rate of injection decreased significantly from 63.8% to 7.70%, and the prescription rate of antibiotics decreased significantly from 337% to 19.1%(p<0.01). For musculoskeletal diseases before and after Separation of Prescription and Dispensing, number of prescribed drugs per each claim decreased significantly from 3.7 to 3.2 and the prescription rate of injection decreased significantly from 64.9% to 1.7%, and the prescription rate of high-price antiphlogistic drugs increased significantly from 29.1% to 397%(p<0.01). In consideration of above findings, the mean visited days decreased and on the contrary, the mean prescribed days per each prescription increased after Separation of Prescription and Dispensing than before in health centers. For the prescription pattern of physicians, number of prescribed drugs and the prescription rates of injection and antibiotics per each claim decreased, but the prescription rate of high-price antiphlogistic drugs increased after Separation of Prescription and Dispensing.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2020

Background: The number of patients with dementia continues to increase as the age of aging continues to grow. Psychiatric symptoms caused by senile dementia are controlled using antipsychotics. However, these antipsychotics can lead to Parkinson's disease, and abuse of dopamine derivatives such as levodopa among Parkinsonian drugs can lead to psychosis. Therefore, we evaluated the patterns of prescribed antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs in patients with senile dementia. Methods: We used data from the sample of elderly patients from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA-APS-2016). We analyzed the patterns of prescribing antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs including prescribed daily dosage, period of prescription, and number of patients with both antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs for senile dementia. Results: Among the 159,391 patients with dementia included in this analysis, 4,963 patients (3.1%) and 16,499 patients (10.4%) were prescribed typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs, respectively. The most frequently prescribed typical antipsychotic was haloperidol (4,351 patients with dementia), whereas the atypical agent was quetiapine (12,719 patients). The most frequently prescribed antiparkinsonian drugs were in the order of levodopa/carbidopa, benztropine, and ropinirole. In addition, 1,103 and 3,508 patients prescribed typical and atypical antipsychotics, respectively, were co-prescribed antiparkinsonian drugs. Conclusions: Atypical antipsychotics were the preferred prescription in patients with senile dementia. The prescription dose was relatively low; however, the average treatment duration was mostly long-term. Selection of antipsychotics and/or antiparkinsonian drugs should be made carefully in senile dementia and the causal relationship of adverse drug reactions needs further study.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.206-214
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify the level of polypharmacy use, drug knowledge, and drug misuse behavior in the elderly, and to understand the correlation between them and their effect on drug misuse behavior. The study design was a descriptive survey study, and the participants of the study were 215 elderly people from the local community center. The research tool used drug knowledge, drug misuse behavior, and the data collection period was from February 8 to 19, 2021. The data analysis were descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. As a result of the study, a significant correlation variable for the drug knowledge of the elderly showed a significant correlation with prescription and non-prescription, r=.145 (p<0.05), and r=.-. 136, which showed a negative significant correlation (p<0.05). As for the significant correlation variable in the drug misuse behavior of the elderly, when prescription and non-prescription were combined, there was a significant correlation with r=.256 (p<0.01), and when not using drugs, r=.-.225 was negative. showed a significant correlation (p<0.01). In terms of the effect on drug misuse behavior, chronic disease =.145, prescription and non-prescription use = .233, which had a positive effect, and non-prescription = -.328, indicating a negative and significant effect. The provision of education on the safe use of drugs by the elderly should first be provided in the community. In addition, we need systematic education and social support for the transmission of correct knowledge on multi-drug use by the elderly and for health management.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.347-352
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• 2011

Health insurance review & Assessment service (HIRA) has enforced cutting the drug costs when physicians prescribe split extended release drugs, starting from December, 2010. The objective of this study is to analyze extended release and enteric coated drugs on pharmaceutical reimbursement list in Korea, and to investigate the impact and barriers of the health insurance review on splitting extended-release formulation drugs. By using the ingredient code, extended release and enteric coated formulations make up 7.8% of all drugs in April, 2011. The most frequently used drugs are agent affecting circulatory and digestive system. From the extended release and enteric coated formulations (n=112), 34.8% (n=39) were not available in other dosage forms. According to questionnaire survey for 169 pharmacists (response rate: 73.8%), the rate of splitting and crushing of extended release and enteric coated drugs decreased. When pharmacists correct physician's prescription errors, the biggest problem was lack of other dosage forms. So it is necessary to develop variety of other dosage forms, and computerized checking system for splitting extended-release drugs. It is also important to inform physicians and patients in regard to the problems of split prescription of extended release and enteric coated drugs.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.166-190
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• 1998

This study presents the status on drug prescription for clinic outpatients' bronchitis, gastritis, and gastric ulcer, and also the physician factors that affects their prescriptions. In this research project the physician factors are as follows: their demographic features, their work related features, education related features, drug information related features and drug promotion related features. The variables in drug prescriptions are drug expenses, daily drug expenses, days of medication, the highest price of the drugs used and the number of the different drugs used. Analysis of the use of prescription drugs was performed on NFMI(National Federation of Medical Insurance) 1994 medical expense claim data. Data on physicians' characteristics were collected by mailing surveys. Patients with secondary diseases were excluded. In this study, 388 adults with bronchitis, 1,038 children with bronchitis, 1,158 patients with gastritis, 369 patients with gastric ulcer were included. The older physicians tend to allow the lower drug costs: this explains that the older doctors who are more experienced less depend on the medicines. It can be also explained that doctors are likely to use the medicines that had been used for their intern and resident practice/training period. General practitioners give more intensive prescription compared to specialists. And specialists prescribed medicines to patients for longer period. The doctors' prescriptions for patients are largely affected by commercial sources. So objective and reliable sources for drug information is needed for patients' benefits. Physician factors explain better at the daily drug expenses, the drug price and the number of different drugs than days of medication. Gastric ulcer are better explained by the prescription model adopted in this study than other diseases.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2009

The manufacture date of the number 198 wooden tablet excavated at Anapji is estimated to be between year 751 and 774. As medical artifacts around this period of time is scarce, the discovery of an artifact with distinct medical information such as names of medicinal drugs recorded in hand writing holds great value in the history of medicine. This wooden tablet was presumably a prescription for a medicinal formula. That the '灸' character which is a method of processing drugs is found after '甘草' indicates the possibility of this wooden tablet to be a practical form of prescription. On this slip, a certain sign can be found at the upper right corner of the names of drugs. This is thought to be an additional sign added to the original text. It seems to have been originated from the letter '了', based on the composition and finishing touches of the strokes, presumably to confirm the end of a work by adding the letter '了' which means 'to finish'. The base material of 靑黛 and 藍淀 are the same, and the two often took each other's place in a prescription. It is difficult to find an example of a formula where both drugs are included. Therefore, the prescription on the front with 靑黛, and the one on the back with 藍淀 of tablet 198 can be understood as separate formulas.