No improvement in misprescribing rates
one in 12 visits to the doctor in the US results in the patient
receiving dangerous medications, according to new data from the
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Worryingly, the results indicate that there has been little improvement in misprescribing rates since the last time the CDC carried out a similar study in 1995. The findings suggest that there needs to be more emphasis on medicine selection training for doctors, better communication between doctors and pharmacists and improvements to the information given to patients.
The new study, released in yesterday's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine (February 9), indicated drugs particularly dangerous to senior citizens were prescribed to them about 8 per cent of the time - an estimated 16.7 million doctor visits. The numbers were gleaned from patient data from doctors and hospital outpatient departments from 1995 to 2000.
The problem is particularly common among elderly patients because they tend to have more prescriptions and are more apt to develop adverse reactions. Certain types of pain relievers, anti-anxiety agents, antidepressants and sedatives were among the most common types of drugs inappropriately prescribed to seniors in 2000.
The odds of potentially inappropriate prescribing were higher for visits with multiple drugs and double for female visits. The latter was due to more prescribing of potentially inappropriate pain relievers and central nervous system drugs.
