Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 8, 2026
06:59
A Novel Approach for the Administration of Medications and Fluids in Emergency Scenarios and Settings
Published on: November 9, 2016
31.6K
Inappropriate Medication Use Among Underserved Elderly African Americans
Mohsen Bazargan1, Hamed Yazdanshenas2, Shelley Han3
1Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, USA mobazarg@cdrewu.edu.
Journal of Aging and Health
|July 2, 2015
Summary
Potentially inappropriate medication use is common in underserved elderly African Americans, affecting 70% of participants. This highlights the need for healthcare teams to improve medication safety and patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Medicine
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
Background:
- Underserved elderly populations, particularly African Americans, face unique challenges in medication management.
- Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIM) use is a significant concern in older adults, leading to adverse health outcomes.
- The Beers Criteria provide a framework for identifying PIMs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of PIM use in underserved elderly African Americans.
- To identify factors associated with PIM use in this demographic.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 400 elderly African Americans in South Los Angeles.
- Structured, face-to-face surveys collected detailed medication data (type, frequency, dosage, indications).
Main Results:
- Seventy percent of participants exhibited PIM use.
- 27% used "Avoid" medications and 43% used "Use Conditionally" medications per Beers Criteria.
- PIM use correlated with the number of CNS/neurological/psychotherapeutic drugs, medication duplication, and drug-drug interactions.
Conclusions:
- Multidisciplinary healthcare teams are essential for addressing PIM use.
- Collaboration among physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and social workers can enhance patient outcomes.
- Interventions targeting PIMs can reduce morbidity and mortality in elderly African Americans.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
358
Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...
358
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
327
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...
327
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Excretion
321
In geriatric patients, renal physiology undergoes significant changes, including diminished renal blood flow and a lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR), leading to alterations in medication clearance. Drugs such as aminoglycoside antibiotics, lithium, and digoxin, which rely on glomerular filtration for removal from the body, particularly impact pharmacokinetics. These drugs tend to have slower clearance rates in older adults, necessitating careful dosage considerations.Evaluation of renal...
321
01:00Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Distribution
348
Drug distribution in the human body is influenced by several factors, including plasma protein concentration, body composition, blood flow, tissue-protein concentration, and tissue fluid pH. Among these, changes in plasma protein concentration and body composition due to aging significantly affect how drugs are distributed within the body. Specifically, aging is associated with a decrease in albumin levels by about 10% and an increase in α1-acid glycoprotein levels. These alterations are...
348
01:22Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Absorption
814
As individuals age, their body's physiology evolves, affecting drug pharmacokinetics. The most apparent changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract, where an increase in gastric pH, a delay in gastric emptying, and a reduction in gastrointestinal motility are observed. Remarkably, these changes do not substantially modify the absorption of orally administered drugs, particularly those absorbed via passive diffusion.Transdermal drug delivery emerges as a highly viable method for older adults due...
814
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
336
Geriatric patients show significant variation in how their bodies process medications, which can change how effective and safe treatments are. The liver is the primary organ where drug metabolism occurs, involving two main types of chemical reactions: phase I and II. Phase I metabolism is driven by the cytochrome P450 enzyme system, which includes key types such as CYP3A, CYP2D6, and CYP2C9. Research indicates that while aging doesn't notably alter the levels or activity of these enzymes, it...
336