Judith Garrard

Use of inappropriate prescription drugs by older people

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and predictors of inappropriate drug prescribing defined by expert national consensus panel drug utilization review criteria for community-dwelling older people. DESIGN Survey. SETTING Five adjacent urban and rural counties in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS A stratified random sample of participants from the fourth (n = 3,234) and seventh (n = 2,508) waves of the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiological Studies of the Elderly. MEASUREMENTS The prescribing appropriateness for digoxin, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, histamine(2) receptor antagonists, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, and antidepressants as determined by explicit criteria (through Health Care Financing Administration expert consensus panel drug utilization review criteria for dosage, duplication, drug-drug interactions and duration, and U.S. and Canadian expert consensus panel criteria for drug-disease interactions). Multivariable analyses, using weighted data adjusted for sampling design, were conducted to assess the association between inappropriate prescribing and demographic, health-status, and access-to-healthcare factors cross-sectionally and longitudinally. RESULTS We found that 21.0 of the fourth wave and 19.2 of the seventh wave participants who used one or more agents from the eight drug classes had one or more elements identified as inappropriate. The therapeutic classes with the most problems were benzodiazepines and NSAIDs. The most common problems were with drug-disease interactions and duration of use. Longitudinal multivariable analyses found that participants who were white (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.67, 95 confidence interval (CI) = 1.28-2.17), were married (AOR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.01-1.93), had arthritis (AOR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.27-2.38), had one or more physical function disabilities (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.02-1.96), and had inappropriate drugs prescribed at wave 4 (AOR = 6.87, 95% CI = 5.11-9.22) were more likely to have inappropriate prescribing at wave 7. CONCLUSION These results indicate that inappropriate prescribing is common among community-dwelling older people and persists over time. Longitudinal studies in older people are needed to examine the impact of inappropriate drug prescribing on health-related outcomes.

Impact of inappropriate drug use on mortality and functional status in representative community dwelling elders

Background. The predictive validity of Drug Utilization Review (DUR) and drugs‐to‐avoid criteria in elders is unknown. Objectives. To evaluate the relationship between use of inappropriate drugs as determined by these explicit criteria and mortality and decline in functional status in community dwelling elders. Research Design. Cohort study. Subjects. The fourth wave (3234 participants) of the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly. Measures. Two sets of inappropriate drug‐use criteria: (1) DUR with respect to dosage, duplication, drug‐drug interactions, duration, and drug‐disease interactions; and (2) Beers‐modified criteria regarding drugs‐to‐avoid were applied to drug use reported in an in‐home interview. Death was identified from the National Death Index; change in four functional status measures (basic self‐care, intermediate self‐care, complex self‐management, physical function) was determined during the following 3 years. Results. Use of inappropriate drugs identified by either set of criteria was not significantly associated with mortality. The drugs‐to‐avoid criteria identified no significant associations between use of these drugs and decline in functional status. With DUR criteria, however, the association between use of inappropriate drugs and basic self‐care was significant and pronounced among those with drug‐drug or drug‐disease interaction problems (Adj. OR 2.04; 95% CI 1.32‐3.16). Conclusions. Identifying the impact of inappropriate drug use may depend on the criteria applied. Further studies are needed that measure additional outcomes and use alternate measures of inappropriate drug use.

Effects of a geriatric nurse practitioner on process and outcome of nursing home care.

We compared measures of quality of care and health services utilization in 30 nursing homes employing geriatric nurse practitioners with those in 30 matched control homes. Information for this analysis came from reviews of samples of patient records drawn at comparable periods before and after the geriatric NPs were employed. The measures of geriatric nurse practitioner impact were based on comparisons of changes from pre-NP to post-NP periods. Separate analyses were done for newly admitted and long-stay residents; a subgroup of homes judged to be best case examples was analyzed separately as well as the whole sample. Favorable changes were seen in two out of eight activity of daily living (ADL) measures: five of 18 nursing therapies; two of six drug therapies; six of eight tracers. There was some reduction in hospital admissions and total days in geriatric NP homes. Overall measures of medical attention showed a mixed pattern with some evidence of geriatric NP care substituted for physician care. These findings suggest that the geriatric NP has a useful role in nursing home care.

Pharmacological and clinical aspects of antiepileptic drug use in the elderly

In this article, epidemiological and clinical aspects related to the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in the elderly are highlighted. Studies have shown that people with epilepsy receiving AED treatment show important deficits in physical and social functioning compared with age-matched people without epilepsy. To what extent these deficits can be ascribed to epilepsy per se or to the consequences of AED treatment remains to be clarified. The importance of characterizing the effects of AEDs in an elderly population is highlighted by epidemiological surveys indicating that the prevalence of AED use is increased in elderly people, particularly in those living in nursing homes. Both the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics of AEDs may be altered in old age, which may contribute to the observation that AEDs are among the drug classes most commonly implicated as causing adverse drug reactions in an aged population. Age alone is one of several contributors to alterations in AED response in the elderly; other factors include physical frailty, co-morbidities, dietary influences, and drug interactions. Individualization of dosage, avoidance of unnecessary polypharmacy, and careful observation of clinical response are essential for an effective and safe utilization of AEDs in an elderly population.

Inadequate Treatment of Depressed Nursing Home Elderly

To determine the prevalence of antidepressant drug treatment among nursing home elderly with major depression.

The impact of the 1987 federal regulations on the use of psychotropic drugs in Minnesota nursing homes.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence rates of psychotropic drug use by elderly nursing home residents 3 years before and 1 year after implementation of the 1987 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act drug regulations throughout the United States on October 1, 1990. METHODS A cohort study was conducted of elderly nursing home residents, for each of 4 study years (approximately 33,000 residents per year), of all nursing homes (n = 372) in Minnesota certified by Medicare and Medicaid. Data included (1) health status assessment and psychotropic drug use; (2) nursing home and care characteristics; and (3) county geographic and population characteristics. RESULTS Annual rates of antipsychotic drug use declined by one third over the 4-year period (23%, 22%, 19%, and 15% from 3 years before enforcement of the regulations to 1 year afterward). All differences were statistically significant. Antianxiety use rates were 11%, 12%, 12%, and 12%, respectively, and antidepressant use rates were 14%, 15%, 16%, 16%, respectively, for the 4 years. The latter two classes of drugs were not affected directly by the regulations. CONCLUSIONS Declines in the rates of antipsychotic drug use appear to be associated with anticipation of the regulations the year before and as the result of the regulations the year after the October 1990 implementation. A hypothesized medication shift to benzodiazepine drugs was not observed.

Impact of inappropriate drug use on health services utilization among representative older community-dwelling residents

BACKGROUND There is limited objective information regarding the impact of drugs identified as inappropriate by drug utilization review (DUR) or the Beers drugs-to-avoid criteria on health service use. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to examine the predictive validity of DUR and the Beers criteria employed to define inappropriate drug use in representative community residents, aged >or=68 years, as determined by the relationship of these criteria to health service use in older community residents. METHODS Data came from participants in the Duke University Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly seen in 1989/1990 and for whom information was also available 3 years later. Two sets of inappropriate drug use criteria were examined: (1) DUR regarding dosage, duration, duplication, and drug-drug and drug-disease interactions; and (2) the Beers criteria, applied to drug use reported in an in-home interview. Outpatient visits and nursing-home entry were determined by personal report; hospitalization information came from Medicare Part A files from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. RESULTS A total of 3165 participants were available at the fourth interview in 1989/1990. The majority were aged >74 years (51.1%), white (64.8%), women (64.7%), had fair or poor health (77.0%), consistently saw the same physician (86.9%), and possessed supplemental health insurance (62.8%). Use of inappropriate drugs meeting DUR criteria, especially for drug-drug or drug-disease interaction problems, was associated with increased outpatient visits (P<0.05) but not with time to hospitalization or time to nursing home entry. The use of inappropriate drugs according to the Beers criteria was associated with reduced time to hospitalization (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39) but not to outpatient visits or nursing home entry. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that in representative community residents aged >or=68 years, current criteria for inappropriate drug use should be used with caution in evaluating quality of care because they have minimal impact on use of health services. We found increases only in the use of outpatient services (with DUR) and more rapid use of hospitalization (with the Beers criteria).

Antiepileptic drug use in nursing home admissions

Although 1 of 10 nursing home residents is taking an antiepileptic drug (AED), no study to our knowledge has determined whether most residents are already receiving AED treatment when they are admitted or are given these drugs afterward. That differentiation was the focus of this study. The study group consisted of 10,318 residents, 65 years and older, admitted to 510 nursing homes located throughout the United States during the first quarter of 1999. AED prevalence at admission was 7.7%; three fifths had an epilepsy/seizure indication. In a multivariate analysis, factors associated with AED use at admission included epilepsy/seizure, bipolar depression, age group, and cognitive performance. In the follow‐up cohort (N = 9,516), postadmission initiation of AEDs was 2.7%; one fifth had an epilepsy/seizure indication. In the multivariate analysis, factors associated with postadmission AED initiation included epilepsy/seizure indication, bipolar depression, age group, peripheral vascular disease, and cognitive performance. This rate of AED postadmission initiation within the first 3 months of admission was much higher than expected, suggesting that new symptoms may develop after admission. Results also show that the rate of AED use in nursing homes is not static. Ann Neurol 2003;54:000–000

Improving Primary Care in Nursing Homes

We conducted a quasi‐experiment to evaluate the impact of a Medicare waiver which allowed the use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) to deliver primary care to Massachusetts nursing home patients and removed the limits on the reimbursable numbers of visits per month. A carefully matched set of 1,327 Medicaid patients from 95 non‐participating homes in the same areas of Massachusetts was compared to 1,324 Medicaid demonstration patients from 75 homes. Information came from specially designed record reviews and the Medicaid and Medicare information systems. Separate analyses were done for newly admitted cases and rollovers. Comparisons of quality of care suggested that the medical groups using NPs and PAs provided as good or better care than did the physicians in the control group. There were no differences in functional status changes or in the use of medications. The demonstration patients received more attention, as reflected in more orders written and an average of one additional visit a month. Demonstration patients showed higher scores on three of seven specially designed quality tracers, congestive heart failure and hypertension for both new admissions and rollovers, and new urinary incontinence for new admissions. Rollovers had significantly fewer emergency and total hospital days. A cost analysis suggests that the use of NPs and PAs saves at least as much as it costs and may save additional money with more sustained use.

Lifetime Prevalence of Pathological Gambling Among American Indian and Hispanic American Veterans

OBJECTIVES We examined the prevalence and clinical correlates of pathological gambling among 1228 American Indian and Hispanic American veterans in the southwest and north central regions of the United States. METHODS We surveyed a community sample of American Indian and Hispanic American veterans to obtain data on psychiatric disorder and treatment. RESULTS American Indian veterans had a 10% lifetime prevalence of pathological gambling. The Hispanic American lifetime prevalence was less than that of the American Indian veterans but higher than the prevalence found for Hispanic American veterans in other surveys. Comorbid conditions associated with pathological gambling included substance, mood, and antisocial personality disorders. Ready access to casino gambling may encourage, support, or contribute to high rates of pathological gambling in both men and women. CONCLUSIONS A 70% lifetime comorbidity of psychiatric disorders suggests that early interventions for pathological gambling should consider common psychiatric conditions rather than focusing on pathological gambling alone.