Analysis of potentially inappropriate medication useand treatment compliance in elderly patients admitted togeneral internal medicine outpatient clinic

Concomitant chronic diseases and geriatric syndromes increase with aging, and the number of drugs used accordingly increases. In this study, it was aimed to determine the rates of polypharmacy, medication use errors and potential inappropriate medication use in elderly patients. In this prospective cross-sectional study, the existing chronic diseases, drug used, and medication errors were recorded in detail in elderly patients who applied to Bursa Uludağ University Medical Faculty Hospital General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic. Then, it was planned to determine the potential inappropriate medication use with 5 different scales. A total of 315 patients, 190 female and 125 male, were included in the study. The most common concomitant chronic diseases were hypertension (77,4%), diabetes mellitus (47,9%) and dyslipidemia (39,3%), while geriatric syndromes were chronic pain (31,4%), depression (29,2%) and incontinence (25,1%). The mean number of drugs used daily by the patients was 5,5, the rate of polypharmacy: 59,4%, the rate of hyperpolypharmacy: 10,5%, the rate of medication use error: 25,7%. The data of the patients were evaluated in terms of potential inappropriate drug use using 5 different scales, namely the PRISCUS List, EU (7) PIM List, Beers 2019 Criteria and STOPP/START Criteria version 2, and it was found 15,9%, 45,1%, 48,9%, 44,8% and 73,9%, respectively. Potentially inappropriate drug use detected with the PRISCUS list was lower than the other scales. The most important reason for the high value with the START criteria was the neglect of pneumonia and annual influenza vaccinations. Potentially inappropriate medication use was higher in those who received polypharmacy compared to the group that took 1-4 drugs daily. vi In conclusion, in this study, we observed that polypharmacy is common in elderly patients and accordingly, potentially inappropriate drug use is increased. Key words: Elderly, polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medication use