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Background: This study analyzes the trajectories of antibiotic consumption using different indicators of patients’ socioeconomic status, category and age-group of physicians. Methods: This study uses a pooled, cross-sectional, time series analysis. The data focus on 22 European countries from 2000 to 2014 and were obtained from the European Center for Disease and Control, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Eurostat and Global Economic Monitor. Results: There are large variations in community and hospital use of antibiotics in European countries, and the consumption of antibiotics has remained stable over the years. This applies to the community (b = 0.07, p = 0.267, 95% -0.06, 0.19, b-squared <0.01, p = 0.813, 95% = -0.01, 0.02) as well as the hospital sector (b = -0.02; p = 0.450; CI 95% = -0.06, 0.03; b-squared <0.01; p = 0.396; CI95% = > -0.01, <0.01). Some socioeconomic variables, such as level of education, income, Gini index and unemployment, are not related to the rate of antibiotic use. The age-group of physicians and general practitioners is associated with the use of antibiotics in the hospital. An increase in the proportion of young doctors (<45 years old) leads to a significant increase in antibiotics consumption, and as the percentage of generalist practitioners increases, there use of antibiotics in hospitals decreases by 0.04 DDD/1000 inhabitants. Conclusions: Understanding that age-groups and categories (general/specialist practitioners) of physicians may predict antibiotic consumption is potentially useful in defining more effective health care policies to reduce the inappropriate antibiotic use while promoting rational use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To analyze trajectories of cataract surgery rates and to confirm the switch between inpatient cases and day surgery or outpatient cases. Design: Pooled, cross-sectional, time series analysis. Methods: Data on 20 European countries from 2004 to 2014 retrieved from the OECD. Results: The number of cataract surgery cases per 100,000 population has increased since 2004 (b = 31.1, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 26.7, 35.6). A reversal of the inpatient cases and same-day cases was found: the first ones decreased (b = –14.7, p < 0.001, 95% CI = –17.7, –11.8) while day surgery and outpatient cases increased (b = 37.5, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 31.6, 43.4, and b = 8.3, p = 0.001, 95% CI = 3.6, 13.1, respectively). Since 2004, the ratio of day surgery and outpatient cases to inpatient cases has grown significantly (b = 3.3, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 2.5, 4.0), reaching a share of 31.7 in 2014. However, this slope of 3.3 was not constant and slowed over the years: from 4.5 per year during the first five years to 1.9 in the second five. No association was found between cataract surgery rate and two regressors: elderly people, and health care expenditure per capita. Conclusion: EU countries have preserved cataract surgery, and this preservation is probably affected by the switch from inpatient to same-day surgery, thanks to the decrease in the cost and equivalent clinical outcomes. However, the slope of the switch slowed over time. Consequently, health care systems must support this process of change especially through reforms in financial and organizational fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Medication discrepancies are defined as unexplained differences among regimens across different sites of care. The problem of medication discrepancies that occur during the entire care pathway from hospital admission to a local care setting discharge (namely all types of settings dedicated to formal care other than hospitals) has received little attention in the medical literature. The present study aims to (1) determine the prevalence of medication discrepancies that occur during the entire care pathway from hospital admission to local care setting discharge, (2) describe the discrepancy and medication type, and (3) identify potential risk factors for experiencing medication discrepancies in patient care transitions. Evidence from an integrated health care system, such as the Italian one, may explain results from other studies in different healthcare systems. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal cohort study of patients admitted from July 2015 to July 2016 to the Giovanni Bosco Hospital serving Turin, Italy and its surrounding territory was performed. Discrepancies were recorded at the following four care transitions: T1: Hospital admission; T2: Hospital discharge; T3: Admission into local care settings; T4: Discharge from local care settings. All evaluations were based on documented regimens and were performed by a team (doctor, nurse and pharmacists). Results: Of 366 included patients, 25.68% had at least one discrepancy. The most frequent type of discrepancy was from medication omission (N = 74; 71.15%). Only discharge from a long-stay care setting (T4) was significantly associated with the onset of discrepancies (p = 0.045). When considering a lack of adequate documentation, not as missing data but as a discrepancy, 43.72% of patients had at least one discrepancy. Conclusions: This study suggests that an integrated health care system, such as Italian system, may influence the prevalence of discrepancies, thus highlighting the need for structured multidisciplinary and, if possible, computerized medication reconciliation to prevent medication discrepancies and improve the quality of medical documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]