Sluggett Janet K, Inacio Maria C, Caughey Gillian E
University of South Australia, UniSA Allied Health and Human Performance, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Registry of Senior Australians, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Am J Epidemiol. 2024 Dec 2;193(12):1645-1649. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwae136.
Older individuals residing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are often living with multimorbidity and exposed to polypharmacy, and many experience medication-related problems. Because randomized controlled trials seldom include individuals in LTCFs, pharmacoepidemiological studies using real-world data are essential sources of new knowledge on the utilization, safety, and effectiveness of pharmacotherapies and related health outcomes in this population. In this commentary, we discuss recent pharmacoepidemiological research undertaken to support the investigations and recommendations of a landmark public inquiry into the quality and safety of care provided in the approximately 3000 Australian LTCFs that house more than 240 000 residents annually, which informed subsequent national medication-related policy reforms. Suitable sources of real-world data for pharmacoepidemiological studies in long-term care cohorts and methodological considerations are also discussed. This article is part of a Special Collection on Pharmacoepidemiology.
居住在长期护理机构（LTCFs）中的老年人通常患有多种疾病，且面临多种药物联合使用的情况，许多人还会出现与药物相关的问题。由于随机对照试验很少纳入长期护理机构中的个体，因此利用真实世界数据进行的药物流行病学研究是了解该人群药物治疗的使用、安全性和有效性以及相关健康结局的新知识的重要来源。在这篇评论中，我们讨论了最近进行的药物流行病学研究，这些研究为一项具有里程碑意义的公共调查提供了支持，该调查涉及澳大利亚约3000家长期护理机构的护理质量和安全，这些机构每年容纳超过24万居民，该调查为随后的国家药物相关政策改革提供了依据。还讨论了长期护理队列中药物流行病学研究的合适真实世界数据来源及方法学考量。本文是药物流行病学专题文集 的一部分。
