Available data include patient demography, drug prescribed, prescribing date, dispensing date, and practice code and practice characteristics.
Therefore, we used prescriptions characteristics as identifiers, namely the Anatomical Therapeutic Classification code (ATC-code) [ 16] and prescribing date.
Records contain the item name, anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) code, date of prescribing, date of supply, the patient's postcode and their beneficiary status (social security or general).
We identified a random sample of eligible subjects who were primary adherent (at least one dispensing of insulin) and primary nonadherent (not dispensed the newly prescribed insulin within 60 days of the prescribing date) from pharmacy records.
Prescribed tablets were evaluated from hospital charts and prescription refill details (i.e. number of tablets prescribed, date of prescription, extra samples donated, etc).
After selecting for pharmacy records that covered the period of 3 months before conception up to delivery, covering mothers who gave birth between 2009 and 2011, and that contained complete information on medications prescribed, date of prescription, and amount and dose prescribed, we had 202 pregnancies to study (Fig. 1).
Discharge planners recognised that PWD are vulnerable because of their reduced ability to comprehend and act on discharge requirements, their inability to manage their own care and treatment post discharge and not understanding and/or remembering the events planned to occur on prescribed dates.
Although explanatory factors were not investigated in this study, historically, antihypertensive prescribing dates back to the late 1950s; hypertension was the first major CVD risk factor successfully treated.
Studies of nurse prescribing to date have drawn prescribing evidence at single points in time or from aggregated data [ 12, 13, 35, 36], often in relation to programmes targeted at specific patient populations [ 5, 37] or particular types of medicines such as analgesics or antidepressants [ 38, 39].
The tool extracted data including year of birth of mother, patient-payment status (GMS, DVC or PRV), LMP, EDD, date of initial antenatal consultation and medication prescribed (including date of issue and duration of therapy).
The follow-up period for each patient starts after the first non-insulin antihyperglycaemic drug is prescribed (index date) and ends at the earliest of the following: date of last data collection for the practice, date of transfer out (patient leaves the practice), date of probable pregnancy, date of death of the patient, or end of study period.
