Abstract
Introduction: Quality and safety of prescribing in older people remains a global healthcare concern. Inappropriate prescribing in the elderly population is now considered a major public health issue because of its direct association to morbidity, mortality and wastage of health resources. The study was initiated to study the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in elderly patients coming to seek health care in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Odisha. Materials and Methods: 2012 AGS Beers Criteria was used to analyse the inappropriateness of the prescriptions in 700 new as well as old patients of either sex who had completed 65 years of age as on 30th September 2013. Data obtained was analyzed with the help of SPSS version 20.0. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to find out the predictors of PIM. Results: 21.86% patients were prescribed at least one potentially inappropriate medication. Most of the drug use was seen in the age group of 65-74 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that increased number of concurrent medications use (OR: 1.95, CI: 1.19 - 3.01, P = Conclusion: Inappropriate prescribing to elderly patients is influenced by the total number of drugs prescribed to an elderly patient. There is a need to improve the prescribing pattern in elderly. This will reduce the occurrence of adverse drug reactions, cost of treatment, and increase compliance in elderly patients.
Highlights
Over the past century, life expectancy has increased dramatically
Inappropriate prescribing in the elderly population is considered a major public health issue because of its direct association to morbidity, mortality and wastage of health resources
Inappropriate prescribing to elderly patients is influenced by the total number of drugs prescribed to an elderly patient
Summary
Between 2000 and 2050, the number of older adults worldwide is expected to increase from 420 to 974 million.[1] India had an estimated elderly population of about 96 million, and this is expected to reach over 316 million by 2050.[2] In the U.S, elderly age group comprise 12% of the population but receive 30% of all prescriptions.[3] This social transformation represents a challenge to provide appropriate, affordable and accessible health service to this vulnerable age group. Up to 30% of hospital admissions in older people are related to adverse drug events.[4] Older people often experience multiple co-morbidities and are prescribed multiple medications thereby increasing the risk of adverse drug events, drug — drug and drug — disease interactions.[5,6]
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