Background:
In the past decade, the prevalence of Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIM) among elderly inpatients has increased drastically. However, limited data is available on PIM indicators, and PIMs use among the elderly in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
Objective:
To determine the prevalence of PIMs in elderly hospitalized patients with CKD.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was carried out on 102 patients in a tertiary care hospital. PIMs were identified using Beers criteria 2019. A Chi-square test was used to determine the association between variables and PIMs use.
Results:
PIMs, as assessed according to AGS updated Beers criteria 2019 was found to be in more than 68.6% of patients of median age 65years and 3 number of diagnoses and seven days median length of stay. Most of the patients (47.1%) had ≥four diagnoses. The most common comorbidities in the patient were diabetes mellitus (n=54) and hypertension (n=55). Most of the subjects (66.7%) were on polypharmacy (5-9 medications/day), and 25.5% were on a higher level of polypharmacy (>10 medicines/day).
Approximately 90% of the patients had very low CrCl < 21ml/min (calculated with the help of Cockcroft- Gault formula). A significant association between PIM use and an increased number of diagnoses, polypharmacy or high-level polypharmacy, was observed.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of PIMs in elderly inpatients suffering from CKD is relatively high. The study indicates negligence/ lack of awareness amongst physicians leading to increase PIM use. The authors propose that the CKD patients should attract the special attention of the physician and should be treated as brand ambassadors or alarming bells for PIM use.
Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication use and drug utilization pattern in elderly patients: a prospective study from a tertiary care hospital
