Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Monash University, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Age Ageing. 2024 Sep 1;53(9). doi: 10.1093/ageing/afae200.
People living with dementia and their carers often experience difficulties in effectively managing medications and have indicated they lack necessary support, information and guidance. Recognising the medication management information needs of this population is an important first step in addressing these issues.
To identify the priorities for information on medication management expressed by people living with dementia and their carers.
A scoping review with systematic search was conducted from inception to 12 May 2023 for any original studies that reported the information needs of people living with dementia and their carers (informal, i.e. unpaid or within an existing relationship) regarding medication management. Two authors independently screened the abstracts, full-texts and extracted data. Study characteristics were described descriptively, and themes of information need were extracted using an iterative approach.
Of the 11 367 records screened, 35 full-texts were included. All studies (n = 35) involved carers, with 17 also including people living with dementia. Most studies (n = 30) were conducted in the community and used qualitative methods (n = 32). Five major themes of information need were identified: critical medication information; medication effects; medication indication(s); disease progression and impact on medications; and safe and appropriate administration of medications. People living with dementia and their carers indicated they need more medication management information generally and want it simple, tailored and relevant.
This review highlights the key medication information priorities for people living with dementia and their carers and will help guide the provision of medication management guidance and development of new information resources.
患有痴呆症的患者及其照护者在有效管理药物方面常常遇到困难，并表示他们缺乏必要的支持、信息和指导。了解这一人群的药物管理信息需求是解决这些问题的重要第一步。
确定痴呆症患者及其照护者在药物管理方面信息需求的优先事项。
从最初到 2023 年 5 月 12 日，对任何报告了痴呆症患者及其照护者（非正式的，即无报酬或在现有关系内）在药物管理方面信息需求的原始研究进行了系统搜索的范围综述。两名作者独立筛选摘要、全文并提取数据。使用迭代方法提取信息需求的主题，描述研究特征，并提取信息需求主题。
在筛选的 11367 条记录中，有 35 篇全文被纳入。所有研究（n=35）均涉及照护者，其中 17 项研究还包括患有痴呆症的患者。大多数研究（n=30）在社区中进行，使用定性方法（n=32）。确定了 5 个主要的信息需求主题：关键药物信息；药物作用；药物适应证；疾病进展及其对药物的影响；以及药物的安全和适当管理。患有痴呆症的患者及其照护者表示，他们普遍需要更多的药物管理信息，希望信息简单、量身定制且相关。
本综述强调了痴呆症患者及其照护者在药物管理方面的关键信息需求，将有助于指导提供药物管理指导和开发新的信息资源。
