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Conceptualizing and measuring potentially inappropriate drug therapy.
A P A L Santos1, D T Silva, V Alves-Conceição
1Laboratory of Teaching and Research in Social Pharmacy (LEPFS), Pharmacy College, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil.
Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
|February 17, 2015
Summary
This review found over 50 different terms for potentially inappropriate drug therapy (PIDT) in elderly patients. There is no consensus on terminology, highlighting the need for standardized language in pharmacotherapy research.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Pharmacology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Elderly individuals are primary consumers of prescription medications.
- Increased medication use in the elderly elevates the risk of potentially inappropriate drug therapy (PIDT).
- Existing literature employs both implicit and explicit tools to measure PIDT.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and assess the tools utilized for detecting PIDT in scientific studies.
- To identify and categorize the diverse terminology used to describe PIDT in clinical practice and research.
Main Methods:
- A systematic review was performed using Embase, Medline, Scielo, Scopus, and Web of Science databases.
- Studies were identified using combinations of keywords related to the elderly, inappropriate prescribing, and drug utilization in three languages.
- Three independent evaluators examined selected papers to extract information on PIDT detection tools and terminology.
Main Results:
- The systematic search yielded 8610 articles, with 119 ultimately meeting the inclusion criteria.
- The Beers criteria were the most frequently used evaluation tool, applied in 82.3% of the studies.
- Over 50 distinct terms were identified in the literature to refer to potentially inappropriate drug therapy.
Conclusions:
- This review is the first to conceptualize and discuss the varied terms associated with PIDT.
- A significant lack of consensus exists regarding the terminology for PIDT, with more than 50 terms currently in use.
- The number of studies evaluating PIDT using implicit and explicit tools has notably increased.