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Kirkham, E., Bazire, S., Anderson, T., Wood, J., Grassby, P. and Desborough, J. A. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5807-1731
(2013)
Impact of active monitoring on lithium management in Norfolk.
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, 3 (5).
pp. 260-265.
ISSN 2045-1253
Abstract
Background: Lithium has been used in the fields of rheumatology and psychiatry since the 1800s and it is now generally considered to be a gold standard treatment for bipolar disorders. However, lithium is known to have significant side effects and requires close serum level monitoring to ensure levels remain within the therapeutic range to minimize the risk of serious adverse effects or toxicity. This article reviews the monitoring of lithium and reports on the implementation of a regional lithium register and database within Norfolk. Methods: Recorded blood results from the Norfolk lithium database were extracted for the first full year of operation across the region, 2005/6, and from the most recent full year 2011/12. The number of lithium monitoring tests, U&Es and thyroid function tests conducted on all people registered on the database were compared between the two sample years. Results: In 2005/6 there were a significant number of people not receiving the recommended number of four or more serum lithium test per year (68.3%) and the majority of people had two or three tests (62%). By 2011/12 this had noticeably increased with the majority of patients having four or more tests per year (68.5%) and the number having only two or three tests reducing dramatically (26.4%). Conclusion: Improved rates of lithium testing and monitoring have been demonstrated since the introduction of the Norfolk database helping to achieve national targets. Consequently, the chances of adverse events from insufficient monitoring have been minimized.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bipolar disorder,databases,drug monitoring,factual,lithium,psychiatry |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Pharmacy Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Nursing and Midwifery (former - to 2011) Faculty of Science > School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy (former - to 2009) |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Medicines Management (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Innovations in Pharmacy Education Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Patient Care |
| Depositing User: | Pure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Nov 2013 22:10 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2022 04:57 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/44222 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/2045125313486510 |
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