Prevalence and impact of potentially inappropriate medication on community-dwelling older adults
Introduction: Potentially inappropriate medication is associated with adverse health and functional outcomes, as well as increased health care costs. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and types of potentially inappropriate medication according to the Beers criteria in community-dwelling older pe...
| Published in: | Biomédica |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English Spanish |
| Published: |
Instituto Nacional de Salud
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.5787 https://doaj.org/article/ec21825e10134520918964914629cad9 |
| Summary: | Introduction: Potentially inappropriate medication is associated with adverse health and functional outcomes, as well as increased health care costs. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and types of potentially inappropriate medication according to the Beers criteria in community-dwelling older persons and to identify the major clinical and functional consequences of potentially inappropriate medication during two years of following. Materials and methods: We conducted a longitudinal, descriptive, and observational study that included 400 65-year or older community-dwelling people (48% women) selected by simple random sampling in 2012. In 2014, 372 people were re-evaluated and classified into two groups based on the presence or absence of potentially inappropriate medication through the follow-up period. Results: In total, 31% had polypharmacy (5-9 medications) and 1,8% had excessive polypharmacy (10 or more medications). The mean of the number of medications was higher in the potentially inappropriate medication group (3 vs. 5.78; p<0.001) and 21.9% still had the potentially inappropriate medication status during the follow-up; of them, 75% had one potentially inappropriate medication and 23% two. The presence of potentially inappropriate medication was more frequent among frail and depressed male individuals with a bad health self-assessment and comorbidities, especially diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In the group with sustained potentially inappropriate medication, we found a worsening health self-assessment, increased frailty, a higher incidence of recurrent falls and prevalence of depression, as well as a higher hospital admission rate, ambulatory medical consultation, and more prescribed medications. We did not find an impact on functional capacity. Conclusions: We validated the negative effects of potentially inappropriate medication in the long run for the health of older people and, therefore, potentially inappropriate medications should be monitored in primary care ... |
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