Prevalence and Predictors of Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Elderly Patients According to Beers Criteria: A Retrospective Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v4i2.2898Keywords:
Beers Criteria, Elderly, Polypharmacy, Inappropriate Prescribing, Geriatric Pharmacotherapy.Abstract
Background: Elderly patients are particularly vulnerable to adverse drug events due to age-related physiological changes, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), as defined by the Beers Criteria, increase the risk of falls, cognitive impairment, hospitalisation, and mortality. Objective: To determine the prevalence and predictors of potentially inappropriate medication use among elderly patients. Methodology: This was a hospital-based retrospective observational study conducted at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from June 2025 to Dec 2025, including 190 elderly patients. Results: The mean age was 72.8 ± 6.1 years with 58.9% males. Patients used an average of 6.9 ± 2.3 medications, and polypharmacy was present in 77.9%. PIMs were identified in 84 patients, giving a prevalence of 44.2%, with a mean of 1.7 ± 0.8 inappropriate drugs per affected individual. Benzodiazepines (16.8%), long-term NSAIDs (15.3%), and prolonged proton pump inhibitors (14.2%) were the most common PIMs. Advanced age (OR 2.14), female gender (OR 1.62), multiple comorbidities (OR 2.76), frequent admissions (OR 2.31), and polypharmacy (OR 4.38) were significant predictors. Conclusion: It is concluded that potentially inappropriate medication use is common among elderly patients and is primarily driven by polypharmacy and multimorbidity. Regular medication review and deprescribing interventions are recommended to enhance prescribing safety.
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