Investigation of inappropriate drug use in Adiyaman Educational and Research Hospital 65 years and older patients and polifarmacy presence

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the use of inappropriate drugs and the presence of polypharmacy in patients over 65 years of age. In addition, the use of inappropriate medication and the effect of polypharmacy on the length of stay of patients in the hospital were examined. Material and method: The source of our study was the retrospective review of the files of 106 randomly selected 106 patients aged 65 years and over who were admitted to the Adıyaman University Training and Research Hospital between January and March 2016. Detection of inappropriate drug use was made using the EU(7)-PIM list. The presence of polypharmacy was considered to be present in patients using the drug daily for five and above. All data were analyzed by loading into the SPSS-22 package program. Significance level was accepted as 0.05. Results: In patients who participated in this study, 59.4% of patients were found to have inappropriate medication. When the distribution of inappropriate drugs used in patients was examined, it was found that 77 drugs were used in total. Among these drugs, "theophylline" was found to be the most used inappropriate drug by 33.3%. Polypharmacy was detected by 80.2% in the patients who participated in this work. It was determined that the use of inappropriate drugs and the presence of polypharmacy in the study prolonged the hospital stay. Conclusion: In our study, it is seen that inappropriate drug use and polypharmacy have high rates. Although the rate of inappropriate drug use varies from country to country and depending on the criterion used, the result is serious and requires elaborate treatment protocols of elderly patients. Reducing this ratio will be possible if the relevant health personnel are informed about rational drug use and drug interactions. As a result, elderly patients need to start a new geriatric evaluation before the treatment protocol is determined, taking into account the geriatric evaluation of the patient, the indications of the drugs to be used, and the drugs that the patient constantly uses. Key words: Inappropriate drug use, polypharmacy, elderly, rational drug.