***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
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    Input: A new patient-initiated , pharmacy-based postmarketing surveillance system is described . At the time a new prescription for a targeted drug was filled , 2705 out patients ( experimentals ) r and omly assigned to the new system had a printed notice attached to their medication bags : the information requested them to report any " new or unusual symptoms " during the next 2 weeks by a toll-free telephone number to a trained nonprofessional who conducted a st and ardized adverse drug reaction ( ADR ) interview . To help vali date the new system , another sample of 1109 patients ( controls ) did not receive a request for self-monitoring but were interviewed by telephone 2 weeks later . Target drugs were chosen from two classes for which side effect profiles are well identified : oral antibiotics and tricyclic antidepressants . Results show that within both drug classes , all patient-initiated reports closely matched those obtained from controls ; the experimental and control groups also reported predictably high relative frequencies for the most commonly expected ADRs . Additional analyses suggest that a patient-initiated monitoring system could prove to be a promising complement to existing physician-based surveillance systems BACKGROUND Hospitalization and subsequent discharge home often involve discontinuity of care , multiple changes in medication regimens , and inadequate patient education , which can lead to adverse drug events ( ADEs ) and avoidable health care utilization . Our objectives were to identify drug-related problems during and after hospitalization and to determine the effect of patient counseling and follow-up by pharmacists on preventable ADEs . METHODS We conducted a r and omized trial of 178 patients being discharged home from the general medicine service at a large teaching hospital . Patients in the intervention group received pharmacist counseling at discharge and a follow-up telephone call 3 to 5 days later . Interventions focused on clarifying medication regimens ; review ing indications , directions , and potential side effects of medications ; screening for barriers to adherence and early side effects ; and providing patient counseling and /or physician feedback when appropriate . The primary outcome was rate of preventable ADEs . RESULTS Pharmacists observed the following drug-related problems in the intervention group : unexplained discrepancies between patients ' preadmission medication regimens and discharge medication orders in 49 % of patients , unexplained discrepancies between discharge medication lists and postdischarge regimens in 29 % of patients , and medication nonadherence in 23 % . Comparing trial outcomes 30 days after discharge , preventable ADEs were detected in 11 % of patients in the control group and 1 % of patients in the intervention group ( P = .01 ) . No differences were found between groups in total ADEs or total health care utilization . CONCLUSIONS Pharmacist medication review , patient counseling , and telephone follow-up were associated with a lower rate of preventable ADEs 30 days after hospital discharge . Medication discrepancies before and after discharge were common targets of intervention Eighty anxious and eighty depressed patients were assigned r and omly to receiving one of three versions of an information leaflet about their medication , or to receiving no leaflet at all .  Mean medication errors were reduced from 15 to 4 % by provision of suitably constructed leaflets . The results show the practical importance of informing patients about their medication and of paying attention to the difficulty level of any leaflets issued The 24.89 % of Mastomys spp of the total rodents caught in this study is an indication that the number ofMastomys spp in this locality is on the increase compared to the report by Agbonlahor1 who stated that Mastomys spp accounts for about 17.5 % rodents in this locality . The fact that 46.76 % of these were positive for LVCFA is an indication that the spread of the virus is on the increase , especially relative to the high number of Mastomys spp circulating in Ekpoma and its environs . This may account for persistent outbreaks of Lassa fever in Ekpoma . It is believed that these rodents may find their way into homes when their natural habitat is disturbed by farmers operating bush clearing and through indiscriminate bush burning – factors which were suggested to have caused the 1989 outbreak in Ekpoma1 . The fact that non-Mastomys spp in the study were negative for LVCFA shows that only M. natalensis is responsible for the transmission of the virus . The findings of a high ( 46.79 % ) circulating antibody to Lassa virus amongst an increasing prevalence ( 24.89 % ) of M. natalensis in Ekpoma and its environs is of great importance . This disease can be prevented by clearing the bushes around the homes and by maintaining good hygiene when h and ling food An interactive computer program ( Personal Education Program [ PEP ] ) design ed for the learning styles and psychomotor skills of older adults was used to teach older adults about potential drug interactions that can result from self-medication with over-the-counter ( OTC ) agents and alcohol . Subjects used the PEP  on notebook computers equipped with infrared sensitive touchscreens . Subjects were recruited from senior centers . Those who met age , vision , literacy , independence , and medication use criteria were r and omly assigned to one of three groups : ( 1 ) PEP plus information booklet ; ( 2 ) information booklet only ; or ( 3 ) control . A repeated measures ( three time periods 2 weeks apart ) , three-group design was used . Users of PEP had significantly greater knowledge and self-efficacy scores than both the conventional and control groups at all three time points . The PEP group reported fewer adverse self-medication behaviors over time . Reported self-medication behaviors did not change over time for either the conventional or control groups . Subjects indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the PEP and reported their intent to make specific changes in self-medication behaviors BACKGROUND Patient safety ' best practice s ' that call for patient participation to prevent adverse drug events have not been rigorously evaluated . OBJECTIVE To consider lessons learned from a patient partnership intervention to prevent adverse drug events among medical in- patients . DESIGN Prospect i ve r and omized , controlled pilot trial . SETTING Boston teaching hospital . Patients . Two hundred and nine adult in- patients on a general medicine unit . INTERVENTION Intervention  patients ( n = 107 ) received drug safety information and their medication list ; controls ( n = 102 ) received drug safety information only .  Measurements . Adverse drug events and close-call drug errors were identified using chart review and incident reports from nurses , pharmacists , and physicians . Patients and clinicians were surveyed about the intervention . RESULTS In 1053 patient-days at risk , 11 patients experienced 12 adverse drug events and 16 patients experienced 18 close calls . There was a non-significant difference between intervention patients and controls in survey responses and in the adverse drug event rate ( 8.4 % versus 2.9 % , P = 0.12 ) and close-call rate ( 7.5 % versus 9.8 % , P = 0.57 ) . Eleven percent of patients were aware of drug-related mistakes during the hospitalization . Among nurse respondents , 29 % indicated that at least one medication error was prevented when a patient or family member identified a problem . CONCLUSION Partnering with in- patients to prevent adverse drug events is a promising strategy but requires further study to document its efficacy OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of an  inpatient self-medication program ( SMP )  on the ability to self-medicate , patient medication knowledge , compliance , and patient morale . DESIGN R and omized controlled clinical trial . POPULATION One hundred seven consecutive patients admitted to a geriatric assessment and rehabilitation program were r and omized to either participate in the SMP or to receive st and ard care . INTERVENTION The SMP was a three-stage program in which patients were given increasing responsibility for the administration of their own medications . MEASUREMENTS Ability to self-medicate on discharge from hospital ; medication compliance at 1 month ; patient medication knowledge ; Philadelphia Morale Scale . MAIN RESULTS Participation in the self-medication program did not increase the proportion of  patients who were able to self-medicate on discharge from hospital . Compliance was improved by the program . On a proportional basis , the self-medication group made significantly fewer medication errors than the control group at 1-month follow-up ( 0.045 vs 0.086 , P < .001 ) . There were no significant differences in morale or medication knowledge between the SMP and control groups , although both groups made significant gains in knowledge about the names , administration times , and purpose s of their medications from admission to follow-up ( P < .001 ) . CONCLUSIONS A SMP can improve compliance in geriatric patients who are discharged to the community . Participation in a SMP does not improve patients ' morale nor does it improve their medication knowledge more than pharmacy counselling alone . Participation in a SMP is unlikely to increase the probability that patients will be able to self-medicate on discharge . Cognitive factors limit patients ' ability to self-medicate BACKGROUND A systematic study into outpatient medication reconciliation was conducted to determine if a multifaceted intervention influencing providers and patients reduced discrepancies related to inadequate prescription medication reconciliation in an outpatient setting . METHODS A prospect i ve trial was conducted on 104 primary care patients at the Mayo Clinic . Patients in Phase I received st and ard care . Patients in Phase II received the intervention reconciliation process , which consisted of ( 1 ) mailed letters before appointments to remind patients to bring medication bottles or up date d medication lists to their visits , ( 2 ) verification , and ( 3 ) correction of the medication list in the electronic medical record by the patient , and academic detailing and weekly audit and feedback of performance . RESULTS Interventions result ed in a decrease in prescription medication errors from 88.9 % of the visits in Phase 1 to 66 % of the visits in Phase II ( p = .005 ) and from 98.2 % of the visits in Phase I to 84 % of the visits in Phase II ( p = .0134 ) when all medications were considered . The average number of discrepancies per patient decreased by more than 50 % from 5.24 in Phase I to 2.46 in Phase II . The majority of discrepancies were minor . DISCUSSION A multifaceted intervention including various members of the health care provider team ( and the patient ) is crucial to enhancing medication reconciliation OBJECTIVE To determine whether parental errors in dosing liquid medication can be decreased through education . DESIGN R and omized convenience sample stratified to three study groups . SETTING General pediatric clinic , largely indigent and Latino . PATIENTS A total of 45 English-speaking and 45 Spanish-speaking children diagnosed with otitis media and treated with an antibiotic suspension . INTERVENTION Group 1 patients received the prescription and verbal instructions . Group 2 patients received the prescription and a syringe , then the correct dose was demonstrated . Group 3 patients received the prescription , a syringe with a line marked at the correct dose , and a demonstration . After returning from the pharmacy , parents administered the medication under observation . Parents in group 1 used a dispensing device similar to that planned for home use . The other groups used the syringe . After observation but before discharge , everyone received a syringe with a line marked at the correct dose . Patients were seen again at approximately 1 month , and parents demonstrated how much medication they had administered . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Percent of parents who administered the correct dose . RESULTS Patients in group 1 received between 32 % and 147 % of the correct dose , with only 11 of 30 ( 37 % ) receiving the correct dose ( + /-0.2 mL ) . In group 2 , 25 of 30 ( 83 % ) parents administered the correct dose , and in group 3 , 30 of 30 ( 100 % ) gave the correct dose . Simultaneous logistic regression indicated that accuracy of dosage differed across instructional groups and language . At follow-up , 23 of 26 parents demonstrated the correct dose . CONCLUSION Education can decrease medication dosing errors made by both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking parents .  Effectiveness was also shown at follow-up Objectives : To estimate the extent , nature and consequences of adverse events in a large National Health Service ( NHS ) hospital , and to evaluate the reliability of a two-stage casenote review method in identifying adverse events . Design : A two-stage structured retrospective patient casenote review . Setting : A large NHS hospital in Engl and . Population : A r and om sample of 1006 hospital admissions between January and May 2004 : surgery ( n = 311 ) , general medicine ( n = 251 ) , elderly ( n = 184 ) , orthopaedics ( n = 131 ) , urology ( n = 61 ) and three other specialties ( n = 68 ) . Main outcome measures : Proportion of admissions with adverse events , the proportion of preventable adverse events , and the types and consequences of adverse events . Results : 8.7 % ( n = 87 ) of the 1006 admissions had at least one adverse event ( 95 % CI 7.0 % to 10.4 % ) , of which 31 % ( n = 27 ) were preventable . 15 % of adverse events led to impairment or disability which lasted more than 6 months and another 10 % contributed to patient death . Adverse events led to a mean increased length of stay of 8 days ( 95 % CI 6.5 to 9 ) . The sensitivity of the screening criteria in identifying adverse events was 92 % ( 95 % CI 87 % to 96 % ) and the specificity was 62 % ( 95 % CI 53 
    Output:
    
Existing evidence is confined to the promotion of safe self-management of medication , most notably relating to the self-management of oral anticoagulants