Evaluation of the drugs used in 65-years and over inpatients which are being treated in Adiyaman Education and Research hospital internal medicine clinic, according to the beers criteria and European Union list

Aim: As aging decreases liver-kidney functions, chronic diseases increase, and more than one drug should be used continuously for each chronic disease. When drugs are prescribed regardless of their interaction, the elderly patients have an increased risk of drug side effects. Guidelines describing the inconvenient drugs (such as BEERS) have been published to prevent these. In our study, it was aimed to evaluate whether the elderly people who are hospitalized in an internal diseases clinic are suitable for polypharmacy and the drugs used during hospitalization according to the updated BEERs criteria and the European Union List of Inappropriate Medications. Material and Method: Our retrospective study included 100 people aged 65 years and over who were admitted to an internal medicine clinic. Data on their current health status and socio-demographic characteristics, and the drugs used by the same people were obtained from their health records. The drugs used by each elderly person were evaluated according to the Beers-2012 criteria and the European Union inappropriate drugs list. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS22.0 and the statistical significance level was considered as p<0.05. Results: The average age of the women was 76.89 ± 8.72 and the average age of the men was 77.28 ± 6.06. 63 percent were women. 97% of the participants had one or more chronic co morbidities. Drug use (polypharmacy) of ≥5 or above was detected in 63%. According to the criteria of Beers-2012 and European Union List of Inappropriate Drugs, it was found that the most used inappropriate drug is metoclopramide. Conclusion: Most of the elderly used one or more incompatible drugs. In order to reduce inappropriate drug use, it is recommended to identify inappropriate drugs with BEERS and similar guides, to use reliable alternatives instead, and to question the use of over-the-counter medicines and herbal products in order to reduce inappropriate interactions. KeyWords: Elderly, polypharmacy, drug use