Prevalence and impact of potentially inappropriate medication on community-dwelling older adults

Potentially inappropriate medication is associated with adverse health and functional outcomes, as well as increased health care costs. To estimate the prevalence and types of potentially inappropriate medication according to the Beers criteria in community-dwelling older persons and to identify the major clinical and functional consequences of potentially inappropriate medication during two years of following. We conducted a longitudinal, descriptive, and observational study that included 400 65-year or older community-dwelling people (48% women) selected by simple random sampling in 2012. In 2014, 372 people were re-evaluated and classified into two groups based on the presence or absence of potentially inappropriate medication through the follow-up period. In total, 31% had polypharmacy (5-9 medications) and 1,8% had excessive polypharmacy (10 or more medications). The mean of the number of medications was higher in the potentially inappropriate medication group (3 vs. 5.78; p