Prevalence of Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions in Older Adults

By 2050, the global older adult population is expected to exceed 1.5 billion. An issue of concern among this demographic is the prevalent use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), leading to adverse drug reactions and hospitalizations. In Iran, over 3.5 million individuals aged 65 years and above are insured by the Iran Health Insurance Organization (IHIO), constituting around 8% of the total population. This study evaluated PIM prescribing practices for Iranian older adults covered by IHIO, using the updated Beers Criteria (2023).

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, electronic prescription data for older adult IHIO beneficiaries aged 65 years and above were analyzed using the Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining over a 1-year period. The Beers criteria 2023 was applied to identify PIMs.

The study included 12,821,179 prescriptions from 2,589,595 patients, revealing polypharmacy in 38.72% of prescriptions. Approximately 25.76% of all prescriptions contained at least one PIM, with ketorolac being the most commonly prescribed PIM (25.17% of all PIM prescriptions). Cardiologists exhibited the highest rate of PIM prescribing behavior at 34.95%, followed closely by general practitioners at 34.46%.

The study emphasizes the significance of addressing PIM prescriptions in outpatient settings. Healthcare professionals can improve the safety and well-being of older patients undergoing medical treatment by implementing strategies to identify and minimize PIM.