Kenneth E. Schmader, MD

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Services

• Geriatrics

Interim Division Chief

Department / Division:
Medicine / Geriatrics

Address:
DUMC 3469
Durham, NC 27710

Appointment Telephone:
(919) 620-4070

Office Telephone:
(919) 286-0411, ext. 6932

Fax Telephone:
(919) 286-6823

• M.D., Bowman Gray School of Medicine, North Carolina, 1980

• Internal Medicine, University of Wisconsin, 1980-83

• Geriatrics, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina

Clinical Interests:
Geriatric medicine, general internal medicine, herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, drugs and the elderly, geriatric assessment of the frail elderly

Research Interests:
Dr. Schmader's primary area of research is herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in the elderly.  The objective of the zoster work is to better understand the development of zoster and PHN and to improve the care of elderly persons suffering from these two conditions.  To that end, he conducts epidemiological and intervention studies of zoster and PHN, particularly with the zoster vaccine.  He is involved with other adult vaccine development in older adults including influenza and pneumococcal vaccine. With colleagues in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Schmader investigates other infections in the elderly.  The objectives of this work are to determine the incidence and risk factors for 1) surgical site infections; 2) blood stream infections; and 3) colonization or infection with multi-drug resistant bacteria in elderly patients in hospital and to quantify the impact on hospital outcomes that the above infections impart in the geriatric population.  
      Another major research focus is adverse drug reactions, medication prescribing and pharmacoepidemiology in the elderly.  The objective of the medication work is to reduce adverse drug reactions, improve inappropriate prescribing and determine drug use patterns in the elderly.  

Representative Publications:
Schmader KE, George LK, Hamilton JD. Racial differences in the occurrence of herpes zoster. J Infect Dis 1995;171:701-705. (1995)

Schmader KE. Herpes zoster in older adults. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32(10):1481-6. (2001)

Schmader KE, George LK, Burchett BM, Hamilton JD, Pieper CF. Race and stress in the incidence of herpes zoster in the elderly. J Am Geriatr Soc 1998;46:973-977. (1998)

Schmader KE, Hanlon JT, Weinberger M, Samsa GP, Landsman P, Lewis I, Uttech K, Cohen HJ, Feussner JR. Appropriateness of medication prescribing in ambulatory elderly patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1994;42:1241-1247. (1994)

Schmader KE, Hanlon JT, Fillenbaum GG, Huber MA, Horner R, Pieper C. Medication use patterns among demented, cognitively impaired and cognitively intact community dwelling elderly. Age and Ageing 1998;27:493-501. (1998)

Hanlon JT, Schmader KE, Samsa GP, Weinberger M, Uttech K, Cohen HJ, Feussner JR. A method of assessing drug therapy appropriateness. J Clin Epidemiol 1992;45:1045-1053. (1992)

Hanlon JT, Fillenbaum GG, Kuchibhatla M, Artz M, Boult C, Gross CR, Garrard J, Schmader KE. Impact of inappropriate drug use on mortality and decline in functional status in representative community dwelling elders. Medical Care 2002;40:166-76. (2002)

Dworkin RH, Schmader KE. The treatment and prevention of postherpetic neuralgia. Clin Infect Dis 2003;36:877-82. (2003)