Potentially Inappropriate Medications Use among Older Adults with Dyslipidaemia

Abstract

Background: Since older patients with dyslipidemia frequently receive many prescriptions, medication errors are typical and expected in this population. This risk has increased by using potentially inappropriate medications. The 2019 Beers criteria were used in this study to investigate potentially inappropriate medication use among older individuals with dyslipidemia. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective analysis used data from electronic medical records from an ambulatory-care environment. Patients with dyslipidemia who were older adults (>65 years old) were included. To describe and find potential determinants of potentially inappropriate medication usage, descriptive statistics and logistic regression were employed. Results: This study included 2209 older adults (age ≥ 65) with dyslipidemia. The mean age was 72.1 ± 6.0 years, and the majority of the study sample had hypertension (83.7%) and diabetes (61.7%), and around 80.0% were using polypharmacy. The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications to be avoided among older adults with dyslipidemia was 48.6%. A high risk of potentially inappropriate medication usage was found in older patients with dyslipidemia who had polypharmacy and comorbid diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and anxiety. Conclusions: This study showed that the number of medications prescribed and the presence of concurrent chronic health conditions are important indicators of the risk of potentially inappropriate medications in ambulatory older patients with dyslipidemia.

Prevalence of Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults with Chronic Diseases

“…A systematic review and metaanalysis showed a global prevalence of PIM use of 36.7% [8], which is lower than that found in this study (58.5%). However, other studies show prevalence rates closer to those found [9,10]. A study carried out in Portugal showed that 79.7% of elderly people admitted to an internal medicine service used at least one PIM [11].…”

Evaluation of Statin Indication and Dose Intensification Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients at a Tertiary Hospital

“…This may be explained by older patients being predisposed to comorbid conditions, leading to polypharmacy and exposure to medication side effects, thus resulting in inadequate statin intensification. 40 …”

“…This may be explained by older patients being predisposed to comorbid conditions, leading to polypharmacy and exposure to medication side effects, thus resulting in inadequate statin intensification. 40 In addition to the gaps related to indications for and dose intensification of statins, the shortage of other lipid-lowering agents in low-income countries has significant consequences. Important lipid lowering agents such as ezetimibe and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) were not available in the study setting.…”