Healthy Skepticism Library item: 12968

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Kosińska K, Brandys J.
[Potentially inappropriate drugs for geriatric patients].
Przegl Lek. 2007; 64:(1):19-23
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18183827

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: Drug-related mortality and morbidity concern mainly older people because of frequent poly-pathology and polytherapy among them. The objective of this study was to estimate the scale of taking potentially inappropriate prescription drugs (PIPDs) by home-dwelling, elderly patients in the Polish environment and to evaluate the influence of age/gender of the patient and the specialty/place of practice of the practitioner and their choice of them. METHODS: Data were collected in pharmacies in Cracow and Gorlice and their vicinity. We analyzed PIPDs as revised by Beers et al. in 1997 and 2002. RESULTS: We analyzed data on 5086 prescriptions (10340 drugs). We observed buying the 19 types of PIPDs. The most common PIPDs were doxazosin (23.73% out of all PIPDs), hydroxyzine (16%), doxepin (9.33%), ticlopidine (9.06%), amiodarone (7.47%) and chlorazepate (7.2%). Other drugs were bought rarely. The prevalence of inappropriate choice of drugs was 3.6% (95% CI: 0.037-0.04, SD: 0.187). General practitioners and family medicine specialists prescribed PIPDs much more seldom than others. We did not observe exceeding of maximum daily doses of analyzed PIPDs. CONCLUSION: The analysis confirms the hypothesis that older patients, especially with polytherapy including psychotropic drugs, should be embraced by careful care of interdisciplinary medical teams.

Keywords:
Age Factors Aged Drug Utilization Review* Female Humans Male Medication Errors/mortality* Prescriptions, Drug/statistics & numerical data* Psychotropic Drugs/adverse effects* Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use*