34 Percent of Adults Receiving Prescriptions for Potentially Inappropriate Medications, Study Finds
A lot of older adults today use prescription medication for whatever conditions they have. However, a recent study indicates that more than a quarter of people aged 65 and above have been prescribed possibly inappropriate drugs.
A University of Buffalo press release dated October 22 publicized a study's findings published in August in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
According to the media release, older adults who are being given such prescriptions of drugs was linked to more hospitalizations and patient cost of more than $450 on the average each year.
According to reports on the study, such findings came "as a result of research that looked into the consequence of possibly inappropriate medications" on the efficient utilization of health care and cost in the United States.
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A recent study indicates that more than a quarter of people aged 65 and above have been prescribed possibly inappropriate drugs.
Effects of Inappropriate Medications
In a statement, the lead investigator, David Jacobs, Ph.D. said, even though initiatives to de-prescribe have increased substantially over the last 10 years, possibly inappropriate medications "continue to be prescribed at a high rate among older adults in the US." Jacobs is also a pharmacy practice assistant professor in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Potentially inappropriate medications are medicines or drugs that the elderly should avoid as their risks are prevailing over the benefits they should be getting from medication, or when lower-risk, efficient alternatives are available. Essentially too, the risk of suffering side effects from drugs increases with age.
Meanwhile, the first author of the paper, Collin Clark, said the average of the American populace is rising, and older adults "account for a disproportionate amount of prescription medications."
Clark, who is also a School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science clinical assistant professor, added, "Harm to older adults" resulting from potentially inappropriate medications is a major challenge in public health.
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Over 33 Potentially Inappropriate Medications Studied
To conduct the research, UB researchers utilized a study from the "2011-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey that the US Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct every year.
The said analysis was used to investigate the prescription of 33 potentially inappropriate drugs or classes of drugs to adults aged 65 and above.
Such medications, according to the new findings presented, comprised antidepressants, estrogens, and antipsychotics, among others.
Furthermore, the study authors surveyed over 218 million older adults, and more than 34 percent were found to be prescribed "at least one inappropriate medication."
Averagely, the findings specified, those patients were given prescriptions, twice as many medications. It was found as well that they were nearly twice as possible to be hospitalized or present themselves in the emergency room and were more likely to visit and consult with a primary care physician compared to older adults not prescribed any potentially inappropriate medication.
De-Prescribing at an Early Stage
Cost was linked to being prescribed potentially inappropriate medication, too, as elderly individuals spent an additional $458 on health care, an extra $128 on prescription medicines included, if prescribed such medications, reports on the research findings said.
According to Jacobs, de-prescribing presently at an early phase in the US. He added, there is a need for further work in implementing an intervention that aims unnecessary and inappropriate medication in seniors.
The public education portal of the Health in Aging Foundation, HealthinAging.org said, people whose age is 65 and above take prescribed drugs more than any age group in the US.
As stated on the website, older adults can take steps to lessen their chance of getting over medication, not to mention the poor response to such medicines.
Among the steps they can start taking, the website also said, include "keeping track of all drugs taken and regularly reviewing medications."
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Oct 27, 2020 08:00 AM EDT
