IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIALLY INAPPROPRIATE MEDICATIONS USING EXPLICIT CRITERIA AMONG GERIATRIC PATIENTS IN A NIGERIAN SPECIALIST HOSPITAL
*Onah Otor Paul and Ibrahim Sherrif
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Potentially inappropriate medications [PIM] are a common cause of morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Detection and prevention of inappropriate medication should be a major concern of prescribers and pharmacists. Several assessment tools are available for detection of PIMs and each one of them have their own limitations. Literature reports reveal wide variations using different tools which makes comparism rather difficult. It is important that PIMs are avoided by using appropriate setting specific tool(s) so as to reduce risk of drug misadventure. Aim: To determine drug prescription pattern and assess prevalence of PIMs. Method: It is cross sectional retrospective study using medication records of geriatric patients attending a Specialist hospital. A total of 500 medical records were selected by simple random sampling method and relevant data extracted for analysis. Result/Discussion: The result showed PIM prevalence is high compared to previous studies. Assessment of PIM produced overall prevalence of 56.1 % most of which were associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics, Benzodiazepines and antidiabetics. The assessment tools produced varying prevalence rates which suggest that no one tool will be effective in detecting all PIMs. Conclusion: The prevalence of PIMs is high, so there is need to improve detection of inappropriate medications in geriatrics in order to prevent adverse drug events.
Keywords: Geriatrics, Potentially inappropriate medications, assessment tools.
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