Comprehensive evaluation of the utilization of essential medicines among elderly people in clinic settings / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To comprehensively evaluate the utilization of some essential medicines among elderly people in clinic settings in China, in order to provide a reference for the selection of fully reimbursed medicines for the elderly.Methods:Expert consultations were conducted to evaluate the utilization of 58 essential medicines related to eight major therapeutic areas, including neurology, psychiatry, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, among elderly people.The evaluation indexes included safety, efficacy, compliance by medical staff, compliance by patients, clinical value, and pharmaceutical economics.Results:Except for psychiatry, authority coefficients for drugs related to the other therapeutic areas were greater than 0.7, indicating that experts were familiar with the indications of the medications.According to the comprehensive evaluation scores, 10 medicines, i.e., nitroglycerin, metoprolol tartrate, isosorbide dinitrate, omeprazole, metformin, amlodipine, aspirin, acarbose, valsartan, and clopidogrel, could be considered as the first choices for guaranteed essential drugs for the elderly.Meanwhile, another 10 medicines, including nifedipine, estazolam, tamsulosin, simvastatin, alfacalcidol, enalapril, bisoprolol, beclomethasone dipropionate, ipratropium, and salbutamol, could be considered as the second choices for guaranteed essential drugs for elderly people.Conclusions:The first choices recommended by experts as guaranteed essential drugs for the elderly are mainly cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory medicines, in line with the disease spectrum of the elderly.The selection of essential medications with full cost reimbursement for elderly patients should be those frequently used and with a burden of high medicine costs.