Frequency of Use of Potentially Inappropriate Medications and Its Associated Factors in Elderly People in Qom City, 2012, Iran

Today, use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) by the elderly is a serious concern. This study was done with the purpose of determining the frequency of use of potentially inappropriate medications and its associated factors among the elderly in Qom city. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 1240 elderly people were selected using systematic cluster sampling from nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and Kamkar, Nekoei, and Shahid Beheshti Hospitals in Qom city in 2012. Data were collected by demographic questionnaire and Beers criteria (updated in 2003), and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and t-tests. In this study, 31% of the elderly were using PIM. Digoxin (7.9%), alprazolam and Bisacodyl (6.1%), and chlordiazepoxide (4.6%) were the most common potentially inappropriate medications used by the elderly. The frequency percentage of PIM use was significantly associated with education, cause of drug use, and number of medications used by the elderly (p<0.05). The frequency percentage of the use of PIM in outpatient centers were more than other centers. Also, more than a quarter of elderly subjects used at least one potentially inappropriate medication. The frequency percentage of PIM use in outpatient treatment centers, illiterate people, subjects with cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders, and those who took more than 5 drugs were more than other groups. Nurses can prevent the development of side-effects in elderly subjects by review of drugs used in patients. Therefore, it is suggested that a study be conducted to determine the effect of training about PIM use on the incidence of adverse effects, drug interactions, frequency of hospitalization and mortality rate in elderly people.