Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Aging Medicine and Healthcare, cilt.15, sa.2, ss.79-83, 2024 (ESCI, Scopus)
Background/Purpose: It was aimed to determine polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication status, which become more common over time and may lead important health issues particularly in geriatric population, and factors influencing on polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication. Methods: The study included 446 patients (aged >65 years) presented to home care services for examination. The sociodemographic characteristics and all drugs used were recorded in all patients. The polypharmacy was defined as use of ≥5 drugs. The potentially inappropriate medication was assessed using EU (7) PIM list. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Mean age was 80.22 ±0.42 years. Of the patients, 98.4% had history of chronic disease while 96.5% were on regular drug therapy. The mean number of medications per day was 5.15 ±0.12. There was polypharmacy in 58.0% and potentially inappropriate medication in 57.6%. When the drugs used were categorized, it was found that cardiovascular system and nervous system drugs were most commonly used drug categories. When potentially inappropriate medication was classified, digestive system drugs were most commonly used drug class; followed by nervous system drugs. It was found that polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication were interrelated. Increasing number of chronic diseases and being bedridden were risk factors for both polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication. Conclusion: The rates of polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication were quite high in geriatric patients registered to home care services, with progressive increase over time. This group of patients should be addressed comprehensively and pharmacotherapy should be rearranged based on current guidelines.