Potentially inappropriate drugs are commonly prescribed for elderly outpatients

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ola Albaghdadi ◽  
Salam , Mohammad Hassan Morteza, Firas A Ahjel ◽  
Mohammad Hassan Morteza ◽  
Firas Aziz Rahi

Aims: Elderly in Iraq kept suffering multiple burdens, as they are a truly fragile and vulnerable segment. A major public health issue among elderly is adverse drug reactions. This study is aimed at contributing in overcoming this treatment gap by determining the prevalence of inappropriate medications used by a group of Iraqi elderly outpatients. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted in a sample of 85 Iraqi elderly aged ≥65 years of either gender. Participants had face-to-face interviews to answer a comprehensive questionnaire. Each drug taken by the patient was evaluated according to Beers criteria. Results: Females constituted 45.9% of the total. The average age was 69.9 years (± 4.6). Nearly 30% of the patients had 3 different diseases, and 17.8% had ≥4 different ones, with cardiovascular diseases were the most prevalent. Polypharmacy was notably identified in 47.1% of the total studied population. Twenty-eight out of 85 patients did not know the actual reason of taking at least one of their medications, and 42% were not taking their drugs as directed. Remarkably, 43.5% of patients were recognized as taking at least one medication to be avoided in elderly people according to the Beers criteria. The most common inappropriate drugs were glyburide, and proton-pump inhibitors. Conclusion: There was an obvious absence of any role of pharmacists in the health care system for our studied population. Health care professionals are encouraged to review the medications prescribed for geriatric patients using updated safety guidelines to prevent the risks associated with potentially inappropriate medications.


Author(s):  
E.A. Panova ◽  
V.A. Serov ◽  
A.M. Shutov ◽  
N.N. Bakumtseva ◽  
M.Yu. Kuzovenkova

The aim of the work is to study the daily practice of prescribing drugs at the outpatient stage of medical care and to analyze the data obtained based Beers 2012 criteria and STOPP / START version 1. Materials and Methods. The authors analyzed drug prescriptions for 150 outpatients, who were over 65 years old. Results. Cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the osteo-articular system and type 2 diabetes mellitus prevailed in the morbidity structure of patients. Oncological diseases, thyroid diseases, bronchial asthma, cataracts, pancreatitis, anemia, peptic ulcer disease were diagnosed in some patients. All drug prescriptions during the year were taken into account. Simultaneous prescription of more than 4 drugs was considered polypharmacy. All the patients were monitored for a year since drug prescriptions had been made. Death was taken as the end point. The authors considered drug therapy to be irrational according to Beers and STOPP / START criteria. The therapeutic value of drug prescription audit based on restrictive lists was evaluated. Conclusions. Polypharmacy is observed in more than half of elderly outpatients. According to Beers 2012 criteria, irrational drug therapy was detected in 20 % of elderly patients, according to STOPP and START lists – in 43.3 % and 66.6 %, respectively. The lack of drug prescriptions in accordance with START criteria is associated with increased mortality of elderly patients. Keywords: polypharmacy, pharmacotherapy, drug therapy, geriatrics, restrictive lists, Beers criteria, STOPP / START criteria. Цель работы – изучение ежедневной практики назначения лекарственных препаратов на амбулаторном этапе медицинской помощи и анализ полученных данных на основе критериев ограничительных перечней Бирса 2012 г. и STOPP/START версии 1. Материалы и методы. Проанализированы лекарственные назначения 150 пациентам старше 65 лет, находившимся на амбулаторном лечении. Результаты. В структуре заболеваемости пациентов преобладали сердечно-сосудистые заболевания, а также болезни костно-суставной системы и сахарный диабет 2-го типа. Онкологические заболевания, заболевания щитовидной железы, бронхиальная астма, катаракта, панкреатит, анемия, язвенная болезнь диагностированы у единичных больных. Учитывались все лекарственные назначения в течение года. За полипрагмазию принималось одновременное назначение более 4 препаратов. В течение последующего года отслеживалось состояние пациентов, за конечную точку принята смерть. Выявлена нерациональная лекарственная терапия на основе критериев Бирса и STOPP/START. Оценена терапевтическая значимость аудита лекарственных назначений по ограничительным перечням. Выводы. Полипрагмазия наблюдается более чем у половины амбулаторных пациентов пожилого возраста. На основе критериев ограничительных перечней Бирса 2012 г. нерациональная лекарственная терапия выявлена у 20 % пациентов пожилого возраста, на основе критериев STOPP и START – у 43,3 и 66,6 % соответственно. Отсутствие назначений лекарств в соответствии с критериями START ассоциировано с увеличением смертности пациентов пожилого возраста. Ключевые слова: полипрагмазия, фармакотерапия, лекарственная терапия, гериатрия, ограничительные перечни, критерии Бирса, критерии STOPP/START.


Author(s):  
Yan Lin ◽  
Chunlian Ji ◽  
Weidong Weng ◽  
Pan Xu ◽  
Yijuan Hu ◽  
...  

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Rogers ◽  
Ronnie Grower ◽  
Phyllis Supino

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S147-S147
Author(s):  
Misa Nishimoto ◽  
Tomoki Tanaka ◽  
Yutaka Watanabe ◽  
Hirohiko Hirano ◽  
Takeshi Kikutani ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim For achieving healthy aging, frailty prevention is essential. Because it is reported that accumulated declines in multiple oral functions (i.e. oral frailty) could lead to frailty progression, detailed countermeasures for oral frailty are currently required. However, dentists of community dental clinics don’t even know a prevalence of oral frailty among outpatients. Thus, we aimed to identify the prevalence of oral frailty and to examine the association with frailty in outpatients at community dental clinics. Methods The subjects were elderly outpatients at dental clinics in Kanagawa, Japan. Frailty was assessed using the Kihon checklists (KCL); those with ≥8 KCL score were classified as frailty. Furthermore, multiple functions (physical, nutrition, and oral) were assessed using subscale of the KCL. Oral frailty was defined as ≥3 deteriorations out of 5 oral status (remaining teeth, chewing ability, articulatory oral motor skill, subjective difficulties in eating and swallowing). Results Of 1,699 outpatients (mean age, 75 ± 6.3 years old; 40% men), 12% were frailty and 21% were oral frailty. When adjusted by confounding factors such as age and sex, those with oral frailty were associated with higher prevalence of frailty (OR, 3.25; 95%CI, 2.34-4.53), decreased physical and oral functions (OR, 1.53; 95%CI, 1.07-2.16: OR, 8.14; 95%CI, 6.05-10.95, respectively). Conclusions Oral frailty was associated with multi-faceted frailty in outpatients at community dental clinics. In addition to the importance of maintenance of whole oral functions including treating teeth, our findings suggest that it is also indispensable to consider the multi-faceted frailty for elderly patients.


The Lancet ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 327 (8496) ◽  
pp. 1488-1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J.S. Langman
Keyword(s):  

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