ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) among elderly inpatients in community health care institutions in Dongcheng district. METHODS: The outpatient prescriptions of patients aged 60 and above in community health care institutions in Dongcheng district in 2017 were analyzed. The proportion of PIM prescriptions and the utilization rate of PIM drugs were calculated according to the criteria of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults in China (2017). Logistic model was built to analyze the influence factors of PIM. RESULTS: The 1 045 269 prescriptions were collected in this study. The 12.9% prescriptions had at least one PIM prescribed. The top 3 drugs in PIM prescriptions were clopidogrel (42.5%), estazolam (24.2%) and ibuprofen (11.4%). The logistic regression analysis revealed that the significant predictors for PIM prescription were: visits of healthcare center; doctors′ male gender and lower-class title; patients′ male gender, elder age, more illness and more drugs. CONCLUSION: The situation of PIM prescriptions needs to be improved for the elderly inpatients in community health care institutions in Dongcheng district. To reduce the incidence of PIM in elderly patients, the criteria of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults in China requires further promotion.