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Pharmaceutical Use among Older Adults: Using Administrative Data to Examine Medication-Related Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Colleen Metge ,
Ruby Grymonpre ,
Matthew Dahl  and
Marina Yogendran
Colleen Metge*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba
Ruby Grymonpre
Affiliation:
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba
Matthew Dahl
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba
Marina Yogendran
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être addressées à : Colleen Metge, Ph.D., Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 727 McDermot Avenue, Suite 408, Winnipeg, MB R3C 3P5. (c_metge@umanitoba.ca)
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Abstract

Medication use is recognized as the least expensive, most cost-effective health care intervention. In older adults this is especially important, as they are the largest consumer of prescription medications. We describe the use of a linked data set including pharmaceutical, medical, and hospital claims to examine pharmaceutical use in the population of older adults and then give several examples of its application. Indicators to describe the population's overall use of medication and the appropriate use of specific medication have been developed. Indicators of appropriate use are characterized using the dispensation of benzodiazepines to older adults. We have found that a significant proportion of new users of benzodiazepines are still prescribed a long-acting version (over 10%), signifying potential inappropriate use. The data are also able to describe some significant outcomes from the use of pharmaceuticals such as death, fracture, and population-based clinical measures where available.

Résumé

La consommation de médicaments est reconnue comme la prestation de soins la moins chère et la plus rentable. Cela est particulièrement important chez les aînés, puisqu'il s'agit des personnes qui consomment le plus de médicaments sur ordonnance. Nous décrivons un ensemble de données qui sont liées, y compris des données fournies par l'industrie pharmaceutique, les médecins et les hôpitaux, de manière à étudier la consommation de produits pharmaceutiques chez les personnes âgées, puis nous fournissons plusieurs exemples de mise en oeuvre. Des indicateurs permettant de déterminer la consommation de médicaments globale dans la population ainsi qu'une consommation appropriée de certains médicaments ont été élaborés. Les indicateurs relatifs à une consommation appropriée sont décrits en fonction de la distribution de benzodiazépines à des personnes âgées. Nous avons découvert qu'une proportion appréciable des nouveaux utilisateurs de benzodiazépines (plus de 10 p. 100) reçoivent encore des ordonnances pour une version à action prolongée, ce qui semble témoigner d'une mauvaise utilisation potentielle. Les données permettent également de décrire certaines conséquences graves de la consommation de produits pharmaceutiques comme des décès, des fractures ainsi que des mesures cliniques fondées sur la population, le cas échéant.

Keywords

prescription drugsutilizationappropriatenessadministrative datamédicaments sur ordonnanceconsommation de médicamentspertinencedonnées administratives
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 24 , Issue S1: Health and Health Care Use Among Older Adults: Using Population-Based Information Systems to Inform Policy in Manitoba , Spring/Printemps 2005 , pp. 81 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2005

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