At least one-third of older adults are given at least one potentially inappropriate prescription when they are discharged from the hospital, according to a study published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice.
The authors of the study conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of medical files for more than 300 patients aged 60 years or older. They found:
1. The median number of drugs prescribed was 7.8. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was found between the total number of drugs prescribed and the number of inappropriate prescriptions.
2. The prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions at hospital discharge was 34.5 percent, according to the Beers and STOPP version 1 prescribing criteria.
3. STOPP version 2 criteria, on the other hand, placed the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions at discharge closer to 63 percent.
4. The drugs most frequently prescribed inappropriately included aspirin, spironolactone, benzodiazepines, digoxin and methyldopa.
5. The odds of being inappropriately prescribed a medication were higher in patients discharged from an internal medicine ward than from a cardiology ward.
The authors of the study concluded by saying there is an urgent need for interventions to reduce inappropriate prescriptions.
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