An analysis of discharge drug prescribing amongst elderly patients with renal impairment.

Renal impairment is common amongst elderly patients and increases the risk of drug toxicity. Analysis of the discharge summaries of patients discharged from the geratology wards of an Oxfordshire hospital, showed that renal impairment was not referred to in 42% of patients with calculated creatinine clearances of 10-20 ml/min. A fifth of these patients, and 67% of patients with calculated creatinine clearances < 10 ml/min, had discharge drug prescriptions that contradicted the British National Formulary guidelines for prescribing in the presence of renal impairment. There should be increased awareness that, in elderly patients, normal serum creatinine concentrations do not exclude renal impairment and that several commonly prescribed drugs require dose adjustments or should be avoided in the presence of renal insufficiency.