This study aimed to investigate the influence of patients’ perceptions and illness severity at the start on antidepressant-medication-taking behaviour. Methods  Eighteen community pharmacies in the Netherlands participated in this 6-month follow-up study. One hundred and ten patients presenting a first antidepressant prescription, prescribed by a general practitioner (GP), were included. A questionnaire was completed at inclusion, after 6 and 26 weeks. Key findings  Of all 110 patients, eight (7.3%) did not initiate drug taking, 32 (29.1%) discontinued use, six (5.5%) switched to different antidepressant medication, and 64 (58.2%) continued on the same antidepressant during follow-up. Compared to continuers,

non-initiators had lower belief scores for impact Cabozantinib of illness (P = 0.044), perceived norm GP (P < 0.001), intention to take FK506 research buy medication (P < 0.001), and attitude towards medication (P = 0.004). Furthermore, non-initiators were less severely depressed (P = 0.024). Discontinuers and continuers did not differ in illness severity at inclusion. However, discontinuers more often reported a non-specific reason for use, such as fatigue and sleeping problems (P = 0.014). Compared to continuers, switchers had higher illness severity scores at inclusion (depression, P = 0.041; anxiety, P = 0.050). During follow-up depression and anxiety severity improved for all treatment groups and

reached the same level of severity at 6 months. Conclusions  Patients’ illness and treatment perceptions and illness severity influence their decisions about antidepressant drug taking. Patients’ care could be improved by eliciting 3-oxoacyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) reductase patients’ beliefs about illness and treatment and assessing illness severity before prescribing. “
“Objective The aim was to evaluate the potential causes of dispensing-label errors at a hospital. Methods The study took place at a 1200-bed NHS Foundation Trust with two main pharmacy dispensaries (one manual and one automated). Face-to-face interviews were conducted with staff involved

in label-generation errors to obtain in-depth understanding of dispensing-label errors. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed with the aid of Nvivo into themes. Key findings Factors suggested as causing label-generation errors were illegible handwriting, lack of knowledge, hurrying through tasks, distractions, interruptions and the use of past medical records in generating labels. Self-checking every stage of the labelling process was suggested as the key to detecting and preventing errors. Conclusions The study highlights the vulnerability of the label-generation process to errors, with potential causes linked to organisational, environmental, task, team and individual factors. “
“Objective  Antihypertensive medications are important in the prevention of serious consequences of hypertension, such as stroke and heart failure.