Prescribing behavior for the elderly in the United Arab Emirates: psychotropic medication use remains low despite rising overall appropriate and inappropriate medication use

Inappropriate prescribing, especially for psychotropic agents, is a common and significant cause of morbidity in older people. This cross sectional survey was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country with a rapidly developing economy. Prescribing behavior for people aged 65+ years acutely admitted via a university teaching hospital was examined for 1994 and 1999. All 474 patients (which resulted in 627 acute admissions; 194 in 1994 and 433 in 1999) were included. The patients had a mean age of 74.1±7.6, mean annual admission rate of 1.3±0.8 and a female:male ratio of 0.46 in 1994 rising to 0.73 in 1999 ( P=0.04). Pre-admission use of five or more medications as recorded in the admission notes increased from 12% in 1994 to 23% in 1999 ( P=0.001), while on discharge rose from 26 to 45% ( P