Evaluation of inappropriate drugs prescription for elderly patients among Tabriz general practitioners according Beers criteria in 2018-2019

Abstract

Introduction: Using of inappropriate medication in the elderly is an important issue and can lead to increased costs, side effects, drug interactions, etc. Aim: Purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prescription status of inappropriate drugs for the elderly in the prescriptions of general practitioners in Tabriz according to Beers criteria. Materials and Methods: The sample size consisted of 16842 prescriptions of general practitioners belongs to two insurance systems (Social Insurance and Health Insurance Organization) in Tabriz city during 2017-2018. Among the sample, 1500 prescriptions were evaluated for people over 65 years old. The Beers Criterion (Version 2019) was used to assess inappropriate medications in the prescriptions and suggestion of their alternatives if needed. Results: The mean number of drugs in each prescription was 3.93±1.5. In addition, the average of inappropriate drugs in each prescription was 0.74±0.8. Poly-pharmacy was observed in 32.7% of the studied prescription and 53.9% of the prescriptions had at least one inappropriate medication. According to the Beers criteria, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics and antihistamines were the most inappropriate prescribed drugs for the elderly (24.2, 21.4 and 10.9%, respectively). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that more than 53% of the prescriptions by general practitioners in Tabriz for elderly people contain inappropriate drugs. This condition is not scientific and desirable, therefore it is necessary that educational modes of medical students be reformed and appropriate continuous retraining courses in the elderly medicine field will be provided for the students, general physicians and specialists. Moreover, regulatory agencies such as Ministry of Health, and Medical Council of Iran, etc. can play a very important role in reforming the status quo.