Prescribing, e-cigarettes, STDs

Inappropriate prescribing common among the elderly

Int J Pharm Pract (2013) 21 (suppl 2):12-3 doi: 10.1111/ijpp.12063

Almost 30% of older people in the UK may be taking potentially inappropriate prescription (PIP) medicines, a study of treatments received by 1,019,491 patients aged at least 70 years suggested. Overall, 29% of patients met PIP criteria, usually for: therapeutic duplication (11.93%); aspirin without a history of coronary, cerebral or peripheral vascular symptoms or occlusive arterial event (11.34%); and taking the maximum therapeutic dose of proton pump inhibitors for more than eight weeks (3.74%).

The study revealed that poly- pharmacy increased PIP risk: 14.58% of patients were prescribed one potentially inappropriate medication, while 7.64% and 6.78% received two and three or more, respectively. Patients receiving at least four different medications were 17.87 times more likely to meet PIP criteria than those receiving up to three medications.