%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence of inappropriate medication using Beers criteria in Japanese long-term care facilities
%A Satoko Niwata
%A Yukari Yamada
%A Naoki Ikegami
%J BMC Geriatrics
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2318-6-1
%X We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study in 17 Japanese long-term care (LTC) facilities by collecting data from the comprehensive MDS assessment forms for 1669 patients aged 65 years and over who were assessed between January and July of 2002. Potentially inappropriate medications were identified on the basis of the 2003 Beers criteria.The patients in the sample were similar in terms of demographic characteristics to those in the national survey. Our study revealed that 356 (21.1%) of the patients were treated with potentially inappropriate medication independent of disease or condition. The most commonly inappropriately prescribed medication was ticlopidine, which had been prescribed for 107 patients (6.3%). There were 300 (18.0%) patients treated with at least 1 inappropriate medication dependent on the disease or condition. The highest prevalence of inappropriate medication use dependent on the disease or condition was found in patients with chronic constipation. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed psychotropic drug use (OR = 1.511), medication cost of per day (OR = 1.173), number of medications (OR = 1.140), and age (OR = 0.981) as factors related to inappropriate medication use independent of disease or condition. Neither patient characteristics nor facility characteristics emerged as predictors of inappropriate prescription.The prevalence and predictors of inappropriate medication use in Japanese LTC facilities were similar to those in other countries.Inappropriate medication prescription for elderly is a major concern because it increases the risk of adverse events and health care costs [1]. Criteria defining inappropriate medication for the elderly have been developed in order to decrease its occurrence [2-5].Beers criteria [6-8] have been most widely used to estimate prescription of potentially inappropriate medication for nursing home residents, hospital inpatients, and the community-dwelling elderly in the United States, Canada and Eu
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/6/1