Potential inappropriate medication and its influencing factors among elderly hypertensive patients in community general practice clinic / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the status quo of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) among elderly hypertensive patients in community general practice clinic and related influencing factors.Methods:A total of 767 prescriptions for elderly hypertensive patients in a community health service center in Beijing from October 2020 to August 2021 were reviewed. The prevalence of PIM was assessed based on the criteria of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults in China(2017). Logistic regression analysis was employed to analyze the influencing factors for PIM. Results:The survey showed that 198 elderly patients had PIM with 244 person-doses. The top three drugs with high rate of PIM were benzodiazepine-estazolam (64 person-doses), clopidogrel (53 person-doses) and insulin (35 person-doses). Univariate analysis showed that PIM was significantly associated with types of medication;and underlying diseases hypertension with hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, upper respiratory tract infection and insomnia (χ 2=82.58, 13.65, 17.74, 7.52, 10.34, 68.19,respectively,all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the types of medication, hypertension complicated with upper respiratory tract infection, and insomnia were independent influencing factors for PIM ( OR=1.55, 2.47, 9.05; P<0.05). Conclusion:The study shows that PIM is more common in elderly hypertensive patients in community general practice clinics,which is associated with types of medication, hypertension complicated with upper respiratory tract infection and insomnia. It is suggested that general practitioner working in community clinics should be aware of PIM, minimize the number of prescription drugs, and choose new drugs or non-drug treatments to reduce the occurrence of PIM.