A POPULATION-BASED STUDY: THE APPROPRIATENESS OF DRUG USE IN THE ELDERLY ACCORDING TO BEERS CRITERIA

Introduction: The elderly population has the highest rates of drug use and is more sensitive to drug effects. Inappropriate drug use can cause unwanted effects in such a population. We aimed to evaluate inappropriate drug use in the elderly population according to Beers criteria. Materials and Method: This cross-sectional, descriptive study used a simple systematic method to select individuals aged. 65 years residing in Kepez district of Canakkale. All medicines used by participants were identified and evaluated according to Beers criteria. Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.1 +/- 6.5 (65-91) years. In our study, 95.7% of the participants had at least one chronic illness and 84.5% had at least three chronic illnesses. The mean total number of drugs used was 5.0 +/- 3.2 (0-15). According to Beers criteria, inappropriate drug use was detected in 35 (30%) instances. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most frequent inappropriately used drugs in the study population [n=13 (11.2%)]. Conclusion: In this study, the rates of inappropriate drug use (35; 30%) were lower than those previously reported. Our findings underline the importance of adhering to guidelines for rational drug use in prescribing medications to elderly.