Evaluation of inappropriate prescribing to the hospitalized elderly patients in Al Shifa hospital, Gaza, Palestine

2016-11-19T02-01-43Z
Source: International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology
Lina K. Massoud, Hala Z. Al Agha, Mahmoud H. Taleb.
Background: The current study aimed to assess the prevalence of inappropriate prescribing (IP) for hospitalized elderly patients at Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza, Palestine. Methods: This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study. A total of 2385 prescribed drugs for 380 elderly inpatients in internal, cardiology, and respiratory departments were screened for IP. Four criteria were used to detect IP using chart review method; Drug-drug interactions (DDIs), drug contra-indications (CI), duplication of therapy and Beers' criteria 2012. Results: The results showed that 44.2% of patients had at least one IP. Around 33.2% of the patients had DDIs, 19.2% had IP according to Beers' criteria and 1.1% had drug CI. There was no duplication of therapy. A total of 323 IP instances were detected. Of them, 74% for DDIs and 24.8% for Beers' criteria. The prevalence of overall IP was significantly influenced by age (p-value=0.024), polypharmacy (p-value


http://ift.tt/2g5ISsV