Potentially inappropriate medication on community-dwelling older adults: Longitudinal analysis of IMIAS study

Abstract

Introduction. Medications are a fundamental part of the treatment of multiple pathologies, however, despite their benefits, some are considered potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) in the elderly given their safety profile. Differences in the epidemiological data related to PIMs contribute to the difficulty of determining the effects of these in the elderly.
Objective. Estimate the prevalence and types of PIM using the 2019 Beers criteria in adults older than 65 years in a cohort.
Materials and methods. Observational, multicenter, retrospective, longitudinal study of 4 years of follow-up of PIM in community-dwelling older adults.
Results. 820 participants from 5 different cities, were followed for 4 years (m1= 2012, m2= 2014 and m3= 2016), the mean age was 69.07 years, 50.9% were women. The PIM prevalence in the participants was 40.24%. The mean PIM among the subjects studied in m1 was 1.65 (SD: 0.963), in m2 it was 1.73 (SD: 1.032) and in m3 was 1.62 (SD: 0.915), there were no statistical differences between measurements (Friedman test p value = 0.204). The most frequent PIM categories were: gastrointestinal (39.4%), analgesics (18.8%), delirium-related drugs (15.4%), benzodiazepines (15.2), and cardiovascular (14.2%).
Conclusions. The prescription of PIM was present in a sustained manner and without significant variability over time in about half of the population of community-dwelling older adults, mainly gastrointestinal drugs, analgesics, delirium-related drugs, benzodiazepines, and cardiovascular use.