Conformity assessment of drugs used by the elderly in terms of the beers criteria

Authors

  • Handan Terzi Gazi University Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Department (Public Health Nursing)/Ankara/Turkey
  • Yeter Kitiş Gazi University Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Department (Public Health Nursing)/Ankara/Turkey

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170257

Keywords:

Frail elderly, Medication errors, Drug polytherapy, Orthostatic hypotension, Prescription drug misuse

Abstract

Background: The risk of drug-drug interactions is more probable among the elderly population than that of the young patients, and this emerges as a potentially vital issue. Therefore, this survey aims to describe the conformity assessment of drugs used by the elderly in terms of The Beers Criteria.

Methods:This descriptive study was conducted at two different nursing-homes with 301 seniors. The-AGS-2012-Beers-Criteria-List and a questionnaire, assessing the socio-demographic characteristics and the health-condition/illness-history of the elderly, were used in collecting the data. The data were gathered July 2013-July 2014, and evaluated via SPSS 16.0. Descriptive-statistics and the chi-square-test were used to identify the data.

Results: The mean-age was 79.01±8.13. The most-common co-morbidity was brain-and-nervous-system-disorders, with a rate of 31.1%. The average-number of chronic-diseases was 3.5±1; three and more co-morbidity rate of the individuals was 70.8%.  The mean-quantity-of-medicine was 5.4±3.24. The most-frequently-used-drugs were Antidementia/Alzheimer's-Disease and Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory-Drugs (NSAIDs) 37.5% and 33.2% respectively. It was stated that 21.1% of-all-the-medication consumed-by-the seniors were “risky-to-use” according to The Beers Criteria. It was also reported that 23.8% of-all-medication used by the 65-74 age-group, 19% of-all-drugs used by the 75-84 age-interval, and 21.2% of-all-the medicine consumed by the 85-and-older-group were found “inappropriate” in terms of The Beers Criteria.

Conclusions:In conclusion, the seniors have consumed a large-quantity-of-medicine; a significant-portion was concluded to be inappropriate-for-use in terms of the drug-drug and the drug-disease interactions according to The Beers Criteria. Nursing-home-health-care-professionals should re-assess the-medication-plans of the elderly by considering the-interaction-related-problems and should be aware of the potential-risks-of-the-drugs was suggested. 

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Published

2017-01-25

How to Cite

Terzi, H., & Kitiş, Y. (2017). Conformity assessment of drugs used by the elderly in terms of the beers criteria. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 4(2), 370–377. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170257

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Section

Original Research Articles