VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on prescribing safety, sexual trauma and dementia
The VA Office of Research and Development recently announced three News Briefs highlighting new findings on the Prescribing Safety Initiative, the treatment of sexual trauma and dementia.
VA Initiative Reduces Harmful Prescription Combinations
Antiplatelet drugs such as low-dose aspirin are often prescribed to patients who are also taking direct oral anticoagulants, increasing the risk of major bleeding. To address this, VA implemented a two-phase initiative that includes clinician and patient education along with an electronic health record tool to promote evidence-based prescribing, followed by an electronic dashboard with flags to alert pharmacists to potentially harmful drug combinations.
VA Ann Arbor researchers and their colleagues compared outcomes for veterans at seven VA sites, implementing the initiative with veterans at 128 control sites. The intervention led to a drop in antiplatelet medication from 26.1% to 17.9%, with the greatest benefit seen in patients with stable coronary artery disease. This quality improvement initiative not only reduced the risk of dangerous bleeding in veterans on blood thinners by reducing the unnecessary use of aspirin, but could potentially be scaled up to reduce other harmful drug combinations.
See the complete study from “JAMA Internal Medicine”.
‘Warrior Renew’ helps veterans with sexual trauma
Researchers from VA Puget Sound and Portland proved that a group treatment focused on coping with military sexual trauma (MST), called Warrior Renew, was more effective for veterans with MST-related PTSD than standard care.
Veterans in Warrior Renew participated in eight weekly, virtual, 90-minute sessions, while veterans in standard care attended group therapy sessions that focused on general health and wellness. Those in the MST-focused group had greater improvements in scores on two PTSD scales at the end of treatment, with self-blame being the area of greatest improvement, and were the only veterans still showing clinically significant improvements eight weeks later. The results speak to the benefits of tailored medical care, particularly for the needs of veterans with MST-related PTSD.
See the full study from “JAMA Network Open”.
The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia
Providence VA researchers found that elderly nursing home residents who received the shingles vaccine had a 24% lower risk of developing dementia.
The study included data on more than 500,000 people age 66 or older who were admitted to a skilled nursing facility for either residential or acute care. When adjusted for other factors such as hip fractures and number of wellness visits, the shingles vaccine was still associated with a 12% lower risk of developing dementia in the four years after vaccination. The researchers hypothesized that the protection may be due to reduced neuroinflammation and less accumulation of waste proteins and plaques in the brain.
See the full study from the Annals of Internal Medicine.
For more updates from the Office of Research and Development, visit WORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.
