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Table 1 Definition of the inclusion criteria of the PHARM-study

From: Preventing hospital admissions by reviewing medication (PHARM) in primary care: design of the cluster randomised, controlled, multi-centre PHARM-study

Criterion

Definition

65 years or older

65 Years of age or older, at the time of inclusion.

polypharmacy

Five or more drugs with different chemical substances. Every separate drug is prescribed and dispensed, at least 3 times in the 12 months before inclusion and dispensed at least once in the 6 months before inclusion.

ATC A or ATC B drug

One or more drugs from the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC)[25]

class A; "alimentary tract and metabolism" or ATC class B; "blood and blood forming organs". At least one of each drug prescribed and dispensed in the 12 months before inclusion.

non-adherence

At least one drug with a refill rate below 0.8 or above 1.2 This refill rate was calculated by dividing the number of dispensed daily doses, by the number of days between the first and the last prescription dispensed. The refill rate was calculated for all chronically prescribed drugs, as defined above under polypharmacy, of which at least 60 daily doses were dispensed in the 12 months before inclusion. The number of dispensed daily doses was calculated by summing the dispensed daily doses between the first to the last prescription date and multiplying it by factor 1.1 to correct for irregular drug use and early collection of the prescription. The refill rate was only calculated for oral and inhalation drugs with a clearly prescribed dose regimen. It was therefore not calculated for PRN (Pro Re Nata = as needed) drugs.