Inappropriate drug use among community-dwelling elderly

This study examined inappropriate drug use defined by updated criteria amon g respondents in the second and third in-person waves of the Duke Establish ed populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly. Information about sociodemographics, health status, access to health care, and drug use was d etermined by in-home interviews. Drug use was coded for therapeutic class a nd appropriateness by applying explicit criteria. Among participants, 27% o f the second and 22.5% of the third in-person wave took one or more inappro priate agents. Of these drugs, the most common therapeutic classes were cen tral nervous system and cardiovascular. Longitudinal multivariate analyses found that persons taking several prescription drugs, those having continui ty of care, those who previously took inappropriate drugs, and those with m any health visits were most likely (p<0.05) to use inappropriate drugs. We conclude that inappropriate drug use is common among community-dwelling eld erly.