Inappropriate prescription drug use common and costly in older patients
- PDF / 169,639 Bytes
- 1 Pages / 595.245 x 841.846 pts (A4) Page_size
- 78 Downloads / 188 Views
1
Inappropriate prescription drug use common and costly in older patients Potentially inappropriate prescription drug use appears to be common and costly in older US patients, according to findings of a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Data from the US Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program were used to investigate the dispensing and costs of potentially inappropriate prescription drugs between 2014 and 2018 in patients over 65 years of age. Based on 2019 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria, it was estimated that 7.3 billion doses of potentially inappropriate medication were dispensed in 2018. The most frequently prescribed inappropriate drugs in terms of doses dispensed were proton pump inhibitors (45%), benzodiazepines (31%) and tricyclic antidepressants (9%). Expenditure on inappropriate prescription drugs was greatest for conjugated estrogens ($298 million), dronedarone ($313 million), omeprazole ($390 million), esomeprazole ($506 million) and dexlansoprazole ($602 million). Overall, 43 billion doses of potentially inappropriate medications were dispensed between 2014 and 2018, at a total cost of $25.2 billion. "Potentially inappropriate medication use among older adults is concerning given the associated increased risk of delirium, falls, hip fracture, and hospitalization," commented the authors. "Careful attention to potentially inappropriate medication use and deprescribing when clinically appropriate are important opportunities to reduce costs and potentially improve outcomes among older adults," they concluded. Fralick M, et al. Estimating the Use of Potentially Inappropriate Medications Among Older Adults in the United States. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society : 25 Aug 803500225 2020. Available from: URL: http://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16779
0114-9954/20/1820-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. All rights reserved
Reactions 5 Sep 2020 No. 1820
Data Loading...
