Institute of Postgraduate Medicine, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Brighton, Falmer, Brighton, UK.
Aging Ment Health. 2011 Mar;15(2):267-71. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2010.513040. Epub 2010 Dec 6.
Vitamins and herbal extracts are associated with various side effects, potential serious drug interactions and mostly unproven efficacy. Yet, research has shown that nearly half of dementia patients are receiving such medication. Health professionals caring for older people with dementia are central to the safe management of this practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the views, knowledge and practices of professionals in relation to this issue. Such information is essential to identify potential problems and to inform targeted intervention strategies.
Cross-sectional survey carried out across East Sussex in the UK based on a self-administered postal questionnaire.
Out of 350 questionnaires sent, 200 responded (57%). Health professionals greatly underestimated the prevalence of over-the-counter medication use (68% believed that less than 10% of patients receive such medication) when compared to published data. A considerable minority (38.7%) reported that vitamins and herbal extracts should be recommended for individuals at risk of developing dementia, despite lack of evidence to support such use. Further, only 24.4% always or often discussed potential side effects/interactions of these supplements with their patients.
The views and practices of many health professionals are inconsistent with current best practice. Many professionals do not appear to enquire routinely about non-prescribed medicinal products and adequate advice may not be given to patients/carers. The data highlights a significant issue and calls for urgent action through targeted educational interventions directed not only at dementia patients and their carers, but at health professionals as well.
维生素和草药提取物与各种副作用、潜在严重的药物相互作用以及大多数未经证实的疗效有关。然而，研究表明，近一半的痴呆症患者正在服用此类药物。照顾痴呆症老年人的医疗保健专业人员是安全管理此类实践的核心。因此，本研究旨在评估专业人员在这一问题上的观点、知识和实践。这些信息对于确定潜在问题和制定有针对性的干预策略至关重要。
在英国东萨塞克斯郡进行的横断面调查，基于自我管理的邮寄问卷。
在寄出的 350 份问卷中，有 200 份（57%）做出了回应。与已发表的数据相比，医疗保健专业人员严重低估了非处方药物的使用频率（68%的人认为不到 10%的患者服用此类药物）。相当一部分（38.7%）的人报告说，尽管缺乏证据支持这种用法，但维生素和草药提取物应该推荐给有患痴呆症风险的个人使用。此外，只有 24.4%的人总是或经常与患者讨论这些补充剂的潜在副作用/相互作用。
许多医疗保健专业人员的观点和做法与当前的最佳实践不一致。许多专业人员似乎没有例行询问非处方药物，并且可能没有向患者/护理人员提供足够的建议。这些数据突出了一个重大问题，并呼吁通过有针对性的教育干预措施采取紧急行动，不仅针对痴呆症患者及其护理人员，也针对医疗保健专业人员。
