Geriatric content in pharmacotherapy and therapeutics textbooks

To determine the extent to which therapeutics textbooks address age-related medication information.

Criteria for 5 disease states prevalent among geriatric patients were developed based on the content of a geriatric textbook and from expert reviewers' input. The criteria were used to determine the degree to which geriatric content was addressed in 3 therapeutics textbooks.

The therapeutics textbooks contained less than half of the critical points for 3 disease states: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, and diabetes mellitus (31%, 33%, and 46%, respectively). In addition, the textbooks addressed only one half to two thirds of the criteria for the remaining 2 disease states of osteoarthritis and dementia (55% and 68%, respectively). Criteria specific to the elderly were addressed less often than criteria that were important but not unique to the elderly (38% and 63%, respectively).

Current therapeutics textbooks have significant gaps in geriatric medication information. Users of these textbooks must supplement them with primary literature or a geriatric textbook for more comprehensive medication therapy management information.