For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 100,000 patients who participated in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2004 through 2013. The team used data to identify prescriptions issued during office visits, including three total psychiatric, sleep or pain medications. The analysis revealed these types of prescriptions written in the office setting increased from 1.5 million in 2004 to 3.68 million in 2013.
Medical organizations have long warned of the potential dangers of using polypharmacy to treat geriatric patients as this population is more susceptible to side effects of psychiatric drugs like confusion and dizziness.
“The biggest jump was in rural areas, which suggests to me that the increases partly reflect doctors and patients falling back on medications when they have little access to other options,” Mark Olfson, MD, a study author and professor of psychiatry of Columbia University in New York City, told The New York Times. “This is a particularly worrisome pattern and suggests some inappropriate prescribing.”
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