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Biomedical subjects

Thomas K Hazlet

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas K Hazlet.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Student use of NABPLaw Online in a pharmacy laws project.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate students' frequency of use and degree of usefulness of NABPLaw Online, a pharmacy-specific, online, licensed resource produced by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). METHODS: Students usage of various information resources, including NABPLaw Online were evaluated through (1) usage statistics gathered by NABP, (2) students' response to a questionnaire, and (3) citation analysis performed on students' project reports. RESULTS: Students used NABPLaw Online less frequently than other online tools, partly related to the relevance of the tool to their projects, and partly related to ease of use in comparison to other tools. CONCLUSIONS: Although it was not extensively used, NABPLaw Online represents a unique resource for students researching multistate aspects of pharmacy practice law.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed2006

Pain, demographics, and clinical characteristics in persons who received hospice care in the United States.

Pain in persons who receive hospice care is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, and pain intensity of persons who received hospice care in the United States from 2000-2004. Data for this study were obtained from a provider of hospice pharmacy services and included information about the hospice organization, demographics and clinical characteristics, pain intensity, and opioid analgesic prescribing. Worst pain intensity during the previous 24 hours was assessed using a 0-10 numeric rating scale (0=none, 10=worst) periodically during hospice care. During the study period, 347,555 persons received hospice services; 55.2% of these persons were female, 87.4% were Caucasian, and mean age was 75.3 years. At least one pain score was available for 156,887 (45.1%) individuals. Among persons with at least one pain score, pain was reported a mean of 2.9 times per person. Overall, mean pain intensity was mild, but severe pain was reported at least once by 20.3% of persons. Of individuals who reported severe pain at least once, mean age was 68.9 years, 53.7% were female, 78.0% were Caucasian, 7.4% were cared for in long-term care hospices, and 73.9% had a primary diagnosis of cancer. Severe pain was reported at least once by a substantial percentage of persons in this study. These data provide insight into pain reported by persons who received hospice care, and may be useful as process indicators of the quality of care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Health services utilization with reference drug pricing of histamine(2) receptor antagonists in British Columbia elderly.

BACKGROUND: In October 1995, British Columbia introduced a reference pricing policy for five therapeutic classes of drugs, including histamine(2) receptor antagonists (H(2)RAs), for beneficiaries of its prescription drug program, Pharmacare. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate utilization trends in consumption of health services in a cohort of Pharmacare beneficiaries to determine if a worsening of health outcomes could be detected after implementation of the reference pricing policy. RESEARCH DESIGN: Two cohorts, "control" (21 months before the reference pricing policy) and "exposed" (at risk for policy effects), were followed for 21 months. Using a longitudinal generalized linear model (Poisson), and controlling for age, sex, and prescriptions in unique drug classes, trend lines in each of these time series were compared for 3 periods: 9 months before policy implementation (or corresponding index date in the control cohort), 6 months after policy implementation, and a subsequent 6-month period. SUBJECTS: Two cohorts, each of size 10,000, were constructed by randomly sampling the population of Pharmacare beneficiaries exposed to H(2)RAs and other antisecretory drugs for 1993 through 1996. MEASURES: Prescriptions, physician office visits and associated transactions (ie, laboratory tests), emergency room visits, hospitalizations, hospital length of stay, and vital statistics. RESULTS: Differences between periods and between cohorts for health services utilization were not significant or decreased after imposition of the reference pricing policy. CONCLUSION: For these measures, there has been no worsening of health outcomes associated with implementing the reference pricing policy.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Global epidemiology of hepatitis B virus.

The burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease and efforts to control infection will determine the future size of the population requiring treatment of HBV infection. To quantify the current prevalence of HBV infection and to reexamine the epidemiology of HBV infection, a structured review was conducted that focused on available primary literature for over 30 countries worldwide. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection continues to be highly variable, ranging over 10% in some Asian and Western Pacific countries to under 0.5% in the United States and northern European countries. The current global estimate of the number of HBV infected individuals is 350 million. Routes of transmission include vertical (mother to child or generation to generation through close contact and sanitary habits), early life horizontal transmission (through bites, lesions, and sanitary habits), and adult horizontal transmission (through sexual contact, intravenous drug use, and medical procedure exposure) and are evident to varying degrees in every country. Younger age at acquisition of infection continues to be the most important predictor of chronic carriage. However, the choice of serologic markers, temporal influences, and representativeness of the study population limit comparability of HBV seroprevalence results. HBV vaccination programs will decrease the future global burden of HBV infection and evidence of reduced burden is mounting in country-specific populations, but vaccination programs have still not been implemented in all countries, thereby maintaining reservoirs of infection and continued HBV transmission. Regardless of vaccination, large numbers of persons are infected with HBV or will become infected. Preventing the most severe HBV disease consequences in infected individuals, such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, will require appropriate therapeutic agents.

Global Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neuroleptic drug exposure and incidence of tardive dyskinesia: a records-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of atypical neuroleptic medications into the marketplace, the use of conventional neuroleptics has fallen, attendant with the perception of a more favorable side-effect profile for the atypical neuroleptics. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the risk of tardive dyskinesia (TD) associated with atypical and conventional neuroleptics. METHODS: Subjects were adult users of the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VA-PSHCS) who received >or=1 prescription for neuroleptic medications during the study period. Electronic medical and pharmacy records were used to obtain neuroleptic drug exposure, exclusionary diagnosis, diagnosis for TD, and select demographic data. Medical records were reviewed to collect demographic data not available electronically. Controls were randomly selected from a cohort of neuroleptic users without TD. The case-defining event was the diagnosis of TD. RESULTS: There were 42 cases and 160 controls for the final analysis. The only demographic difference found was a higher proportion of Caucasians (90%) in the TD group compared to the control group (76%). There was no significant difference in the risk of TD for patients on conventional neuroleptics compared to the atypical neuroleptic users (OR=1.29; 95% CI=0.71-2.34). After adjusting for age, gender, race, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, depression, and anti-Parkinson drugs, there was still no significant difference in risk of TD between cases and controls (OR=1.02; 95% CI=0.465-2.232). CONCLUSION: This study did not find a statistically significant difference in the risk of TD for users of conventional neuroleptics versus users of atypical neuroleptics.

Journal Article↗