Not much is known about older adult’s use of prescription and over-the-counter medication. 
This is so, despite concerns about drug safety. The objective of this study, therefore, was to estimate the prevalence and patterns of medication use among older adults to determine the risk for major drug-drug interactions.
Three thousand five people aged 57 to 85 years, who lived in communities, were investigated by using in-home interviews and medication logs. The study was conducted between June 2005 and March 2006.
The results estimated that at least 91% of older adults regularly used at least 1 medication, of which the most common was prescription medication. The prevalence of prescription medication use was most common among the oldest people. Nearly one-half of older adults used at least one over-the-counter medication or dietary supplement. The data also show that women were more likely to use prescription medications than men. Two groups of people were more likely to use medication: those in poorer health, and those who were better educated. The most commonly used prescription or over-the-counter medications were cardiovascular agents, including antihyperlipidemics and anticoagulants. The most commonly used dietary supplements were multivitamins, vitamins and minerals.
COMMENT
♣ This study found that more than half of older adults used 5 or more prescription medications, over-the-counter medications or dietary supplements.
♣ Nearly 1 in 25 older people are at risk for a drug-drug interaction.
♣ Half of the people in this high-risk group were using nonprescription medications.
♣ This finding has major clinical implications, because many doctors are unaware of their patient’s non-prescription medication use, and a recent report estimated that in the US, adults older than 65 make more than 175,000 emergency department visits per year due to adverse drug events.
To read this study in its entirety, go to JAMA December 24/31, 2008, Vol 300 No. 24, pp. 2867-2878
-–Cynthia Haggard is a medical writer who lives in Washington DC. She owns her own business, Clarifying Concepts, which provides technical writing, writing for the public, and regulatory affairs services. To see more, please go to clarifyingconcepts. (c) 2009 All rights reserved.
interesting material, where such topics do you find? I will often go
I do keyword searches on medline. I find it is the best resource for journal articles about these topics.