Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Medications are a fundamental part of the treatment of multiple pathologies. However, despite their benefits, some are considered potentially inappropriate medications for older people given their safety profile. Epidemiological data differences related to potentially inappropriate medications make it difficult to determine their effects on elderly people. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and types of potentially inappropriate medications using the 2019 Beers Criteria® in a cohort of adults older than 65 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed an observational, multicenter, retrospective, longitudinal study of a four-year follow-up of potentially inappropriate medications in community-dwelling older adults. RESULTS: We followed 820 participants from five cities for four years (2012-2016) and evaluated them in three different moments (m1 = 2012, m2 = 2014, and m3 = 2016). The average age was 69.07 years, and 50.9% were women. The potentially inappropriate medication prevalence in the participants was 40.24%. The potentially inappropriate medications' mean among the studied subjects in the first moment was 1.65 (SD = 0.963), in the second was 1.73 (SD = 1.032), and in the third was 1.62 (SD = 0.915). There were no statistical differences between measurements (Friedman test, value = 0.204). The most frequent potentially inappropriate medications categories were gastrointestinal (39.4%), analgesics (18.8%), delirium-related drugs (15.4%), benzodiazepines (15.2%), and cardiovascular (14.2%). CONCLUSIONS: About half of the population of the community-dwelling older adults had prescriptions of potentially inappropriate medications in a sustained manner and without significant variability over time. Mainly potentially inappropriate medications were gastrointestinal and cardiovascular drugs, analgesics, delirium-related drugs, and benzodiazepines.