[Anticholinergic burden in older adults in a residential care center: a pilot study]

Older adults are more at risk for side effects from medications. Mainly anticholinergic side effects can lead to central and peripheral side effects on somatic and cognitive levels. In this study, we determined the anticholinergic load of the medication regimens of residents of a residential care centre using two validated measurement scales. We also examined to which extent the class(es) of medications influence this anticholinergic load. Finally, we analysed the association of a high anticholinergic load with incidents (urinary tract infections, falls, delirium).In this pilot study, we see a high degree of polymedication and use of psychotropic drugs with an anticholinergic effect. On average, we established a score of 1.67 on the ACB and a score of 0.87 on the DBI. The anticholinergic load in the ACB is mainly determined by antipsychotics (β = 0,647, p ‹ 0.001), in the DBI an influence of all medications with total anticholinergic and sedative load (F = 6.764, p ‹ 0.001). A risk score on the DBI has a statistically significant correlation with experiencing a urinary tract infection (F = 5.877, p = 0.018). This influence remains significant after adjusting for covariates.The anticholinergic load of medication regimens in residents is high. An increased anticholinergic load is also associated with urinary tract infection. Reducing the anticholinergic load within residential care centres therefore represents an important challenge for the future.