Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications in ayder referral hospital, tigray region, northern ethiopia: prospective study

Background : Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use includes the use of drugs with higher risk where adverse drug effect outweighs the clinical benefit, especially when more effective alternative therapy is available. Objective : The aim of this study was to assess prevalence and risk factors associated with the use of PIMs in elderly patients at medical ward of Ayder Referral Hospital (ARH), Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. Methods : A facility based prospective cross sectional study was conducted among 140 elderly patients from February 6, 2014 to May 05, 2014 in ARH. Patients with age ≥ 60 years admitted to medical ward during the study period were randomly selected. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS, IBM Corporation) version 20. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with occurrence of PIM. Results : Of 140 patients, 52.1% were males and forty (28.6%) of patients received at least one potentially inappropriate medication. The most commonly used potential inappropriate medications were metoclopramide (25.58%), nifedipine (16.28%), diazepam (13.95%) and meperedine (13.95%). Above half of (58%) patients encountered polypharmacy. Thirty eight percent of the participants’ had comorbid conditions. In the binary logistic analysis, patients with polypharmacy were more likely to receive PIMs [AOR 4.163: 95 % CI 1.75– 9.92, p=0.001]. Conclusions : Prevalence of PIMs in elderly patients admitted to ARH was high. Polypharmacy was identified as the independent predicator of the uses of PIMs. Clinical pharmacists’ are in a position to alert and monitor the exposure to PIMs as part of multidisciplinary team. Keywords :  Elderly, Potential inappropriate medication, Beer’s criteria, Ethiopia