Home Medicines Review and frailty among community-dwelling older women

Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs) can optimize medications for frail older adults. This study aimed to determine the use of HMRs according to frailty status and the association between frailty and use of HMRs.

The study included 9139 female participants enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health from 2003 (aged 77-82 years) to 2017 (aged 91-96 years). Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) using log-binomial regressions were used to determine associations using repeated measures on individuals over time.

The majority of participants in the study remained non-frail and did not receive HMRs from 2003 [7116 (77.86%)] to 2017 [1240 (71.31%)]. The use of HMRs was low in both groups with 33 (1.68%; 95% CI, 1.16 to 2.36) frail and 64 (0.89%; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.14) non-frail participants receiving HMRs in 2003; by 2017, 19 (4.19%; 95% CI, 2.54 to 6.46) frail and 45 (3.50%; 95% CI, 2.57 to 4.66) non-frail participants received HMRs. Frailty was not associated with receiving a HMR (RR 1.06; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.20), although for every 1-year increase, participants were 10% more likely to receive a HMR (RR 1.10; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.11). Participants with continuous polypharmacy, ≥4 chronic diseases, >4 general practitioner visits and Department of Veterans Affairs coverage were more likely to receive a HMR.

Despite the proven value of HMRs for frail older people, HMRs were not used for most frail and non-frail community-dwelling women in this study. Reasons for low use of the service should be explored, with interventions to raise awareness of the benefits of the service.