Sung Tae Cho1, Jun Seok Kim2, Joonhwa Noh2, Hong Sang Moon3, Seung Ki Min4, Sangrak Bae5, Jae Hyun Bae6, Young Jin Seo7, Young Seop Chang8, Chang Wook Jeong9, Jun Hyun Han10, Hyung Jee Kim11. 1. Department of Urology, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: cst326@paran.com. 2. Department of Urology, Kwangju Christian Hospital, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. 3. Department of Urology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Guri, Republic of Korea. 4. Department of Urology, National Police Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 5. Department of Urology, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 6. Department of Urology, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Republic of Korea. 7. Department of Urology, Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea. 8. Department of Urology, Konyang University Hospital, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. 9. Department of Urology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 10. Department of Urology, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea. 11. Department of Urology, DanKook University Hospital, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in elderly patients visiting the urology department for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed digital medical records of individuals over the age of 65 who visited the urology department for LUTS. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 hospitals located in South Korea, between September 2017 and December 2017. All prescribed medications were analyzed using electronic medical records. The updated 2015 Beers criteria were used to identify and assess the appropriateness of the prescribed drugs in elderly patients. RESULTS: We analyzed a total of 2143 patients aged over 65 years from 10 institutions. The mean age was 74.2 ± 6.26 years (65-97), 1634 (76.2%) were men. Patients took a mean of 6.48 ± 2.46 medications (range 0-18), and polypharmacy was found in 1762 patients (82.2%). The number of patients who received PIMs at least once was 1579 (73.7%). The average number of PIMs used per patient was 1.31 ± 1.25 (0-7). PIM use ratio was 18.9 ± 0.15% (0-67%). The number of chronic diseases, and concurrent medication and polypharmacy were predictive factors associated with PIM use. CONCLUSION: Our multi-institutional results show that a substantial proportion of elderly patients took PIMs when visiting the urology department. Factors associated with PIMs were the number of chronic diseases and polypharmacy. Medication use in elderly patients, especially in urology, should be monitored carefully.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in elderly patients visiting the urology department for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed digital medical records of individuals over the age of 65 who visited the urology department for LUTS. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 hospitals located in South Korea, between September 2017 and December 2017. All prescribed medications were analyzed using electronic medical records. The updated 2015 Beers criteria were used to identify and assess the appropriateness of the prescribed drugs in elderly patients. RESULTS: We analyzed a total of 2143 patients aged over 65 years from 10 institutions. The mean age was 74.2 ± 6.26 years (65-97), 1634 (76.2%) were men. Patients took a mean of 6.48 ± 2.46 medications (range 0-18), and polypharmacy was found in 1762 patients (82.2%). The number of patients who received PIMs at least once was 1579 (73.7%). The average number of PIMs used per patient was 1.31 ± 1.25 (0-7). PIM use ratio was 18.9 ± 0.15% (0-67%). The number of chronic diseases, and concurrent medication and polypharmacy were predictive factors associated with PIM use. CONCLUSION: Our multi-institutional results show that a substantial proportion of elderly patients took PIMs when visiting the urology department. Factors associated with PIMs were the number of chronic diseases and polypharmacy. Medication use in elderly patients, especially in urology, should be monitored carefully.
Authors: Benjamin N Breyer; Scott R Bauer; Austin W Lee; Stacey A Kenfield; Elizabeth Y Wang; Anthony Enriquez; Akinyemi Oni-Orisan; Michael A Steinman; Ida Sim Journal: JMIR Form Res Date: 2021-12-10