34% of older adults in the US are prescribed potentially inappropriate drugs
University at Buffalo
The
research, which sought to determine the impact of potentially inappropriate
medications on health care utilization and costs in the United States, also
found that more than 34% of adults age 65 and older were prescribed these
problematic drugs.
"Although efforts to de-prescribe have increased significantly over the last decade, potentially inappropriate medications continue to be prescribed at a high rate among older adults in the United States," says David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD, lead investigator and assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Collin
Clark, PharmD, first author on the paper and clinical assistant professor in
the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, adds, "The average age
of the U.S. population is rising, and older adults account for a
disproportionate amount of prescription medications. Harm to older adults caused
by potentially inappropriate medications is a major public health
challenge."
As
the human body ages, the risk of experiencing harmful side effects from
medications increases. Potentially inappropriate medications are drugs that
should be avoided by older adults due to these risks outweighing the benefits
of the medication, or when effective but lower risk alternative treatments are
available.
The
study, which was published in August in the Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society, used the 2011-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey --
conducted annually by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- to examine the prescription of 33
potentially inappropriate medications or classes of medications to adults 65
and older.
Among
the potentially inappropriate medications examined were antidepressants,
barbiturates, androgens, estrogens, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,
first-generation antihistamines, and antipsychotics.
Among the 218 million-plus older adults surveyed, more than 34% were prescribed at least one potentially inappropriate medication.
Those patients were, on
average, prescribed twice as many drugs, were nearly twice as likely to be
hospitalized or visit the emergency department, and were more likely to visit a
primary care physician compared to older adults who were not prescribed
potentially inappropriate medication.
Patients
who received these medications also spent an additional $458 on health care,
including an extra $128 on prescription drugs.
"De-prescribing
is currently at an early stage in the United States. Further work is needed to
implement interventions that target unnecessary and inappropriate medications
in older adults," says Jacobs.