Background Explicit criteria for potentially inappropriate prescriptions in the elderly are recommended to avoid prescriptions of duplicate drug classes and to optimize monotherapy within a single drug class before a new agent is considered. Duplicate drug class prescription (or therapeutic duplicates) puts the patient at increased risk of adverse drug reactions with no additional therapeutic benefits. To our knowledge, the prevalence of elderly inpatients receiving therapeutic duplicates has never been studied.Objectives Our objective was to assess the prevalence of therapeutic duplicates at admission, discharge, and 3-month follow-up of hospitalized elderly patients.Methods This cross-sectional prospective study was conducted in 97 Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards. Therapeutic duplicates were defined as at least two drugs of the same therapeutic class prescribed simultaneously to a patient. A patient's drug therapy at admission relates to prescriptions from general practitioners, whereas prescriptions at discharge are those from hospital internists or geriatricians.Results The study sample comprised 5821 admitted and 4983 discharged patients. In all, 143 therapeutic duplicates were found at admission and 170 at discharge. The prevalence of patients exposed to at least one therapeutic duplicate rose significantly from hospital admission (2.5 %) to discharge (3.4 %; p = 0.0032). Psychotropic drugs and drugs for peptic ulcer or gastroesophageal reflux disease were the most frequently involved. A total of 86.8 % of patients discharged with at least one therapeutic duplicate were still receiving them at 3-month follow-up.Conclusions Hospitalization and drugs prescribed by internists and geriatricians are both factors associated with a small but definite increase in overall therapeutic duplicates in elderly patients admitted to internal medicine and geriatric wards. More attention should be paid to the indications for each drug prescribed, because therapeutic duplicates are not supported by evidence and increase both the risk of adverse drug reactions and costs. Identification of unnecessary therapeutic duplicates is essential for the optimization of polypharmacy.
Therapeutic Duplicates in a Cohort of Hospitalized Elderly Patients: Results from the REPOSI Study / Luca, Pasina; Sarah, Astuto; Laura, Cortesi; Mauro, Tettamanti; Carlotta, Franchi; Alessandra, Marengoni; Pier Mannuccio, Mannucci; Alessandro, Nobili; Prisco, Domenico; Silvestri, Elena; Cenci, Caterina; Barnini, Tommaso; Delitala, Giuseppe; Carta, Stefano; Atzori, Sebastiana; Guarnieri, Gianfranco; Zanetti, Michela; Spalluti, Annalisa; Grazia Serra, Maria; Antonietta Bleve, Maria; Vanoli, Massimo; Grignani, Giulia; Casella, Gianluca; Gasbarrone, Laura; Maniscalco, Giorgio; Gunelli, Massimo; Tirotta, Daniela; Brucato, Antonio; Ghidoni, Silvia; Di Corato, Paola; Bernardi, Mauro; Li Bassi, Silvia; Santi, Luca; Agnelli, Giancarlo; Iorio, Alfonso; Marcucci, Maura; Marchesini, Emanuela; Mannarino, Elmo; Lupattelli, Graziana; Rondelli, Pamela; Paciullo, Francesco; Fabris, Fabrizio; Carlon, Michela; Turatto, Francesca; Cristina Baroni, Maria; Zardo, Marianna; Manfredini, Roberto; Molino, Christian; Pala, Marco; Fabbian, Fabio; Nuti, Ranuccio; Valenti, Roberto; Ruvio, Martina; Cappelli, Silvia; Paolisso, Giuseppe; Rosaria Rizzo, Maria; Teresa Laieta, Maria; Salvatore, Teresa; Carlo Sasso, Ferdinando; Utili, Riccardo; Durante Mangoni, Emanuele; Pinto, Daniela; Olivieri, Oliviero; Maria Stanzial, Anna; Fellin, Renato; Volpato, Stefano; Fotini, Sioulis; Barbagallo, Mario; Dominguez, Ligia; Plances, Lidia; D'Angelo, Daniela; Rini, Giovanbattista; Mansueto, Pasquale; Pepe, Ilenia; Licata, Giuseppe; Calvo, Luigi; Valenti, Maria; Borghi, Claudio; Strocchi, Enrico; Rebecca Rinaldi, Elisa; Zoli, Marco; Fabbri, Elisa; Magalotti, Donatella; Auteri, Alberto; Laura Pasqui, Anna; Puccetti, Luca; Laghi Pasini, Franco; Leopoldo Capecchi, Pier; Bicchi, Maurizio; Sabbà, Carlo; Saverio Vella, Francesco; Marseglia, Alessandro; Valentina Luglio, Chiara; Palasciano, Giuseppe; Ester Modeo, Maria; Aquilino, Annamaria; Raffaele, Pallante; Pugliese, Stefania; Capobianco, Caterina; Postiglione, Alfredo; Rosaria Barbella, Maria; De Stefano, Francesco; Fenoglio, Luigi; Brignone, Chiara; Bracco, Christian; Giraudo, Alessia; Musca, Giuseppe; Cuccurullo, Olga; Cricco, Luigi; Fiorentini, Alessandra; Domenica Cappellini, Maria; Fabio, Giovanna; Seghezzi, Sonia; Migone De Amicis, Margherita; Fargion, Silvia; Bonara, Paola; Bulgheroni, Mara; Lombardi, Rosa; Magrini, Fabio; Massari, Ferdinando; Tonella, Tatiana; Peyvandi, Flora; Tedeschi, Alberto; Monzani, Valter; Savojardo, Valeria; Folli, Christian; Magnini, Maria; Mari, Daniela; Dionigi Rossi, Paolo; Damanti, Sarah; Prolo, Silvia; Sole Lilleri, Maria; Cricco, Luigi; Fiorentini, Alessandra; Micale, Giuliana; Podda, Mauro; Selmi, Carlo; Francesca, ; Salerno, Francesco; Accordino, Silvia; Conca, Alessio; Monti, Valentina; Roberto Corazza, Gino; Miceli, Emanuela; Vincenzo Lenti, Marco; Padula, Donatella; Balduini, Carlo L.; Bertolino, Giampiera; Provini, Stella; Quaglia, Federica; Murialdo, Giovanni; Bovio, Marta; Dallegri, Franco; Ottonello, Luciano; Quercioli, Alessandra; Barreca, Alessandra; Beatrice Secchi, Maria; Ghelfi, Davide; Sheng Chin, Wu; Carassale, Laura; Caporotundo, Silvia; Anastasio, Luigi; Sofia, Lucia; Carbone, Maria; Traisci, Giancarlo; De Feudis, Lucrezia; Di Carlo, Silvia; Davì, Giovanni; Teresa Guagnano, Maria; Sestili, Simona; Bergami, Elisabetta; Rizzioli, Emanuela; Cagnoni, Carlo; Bertone, Luca; Manucra, Antonio; Buratti, Alberto; Tognin, Tiziana; Lucio Liberato, Nicola; Bernasconi, Giordano; Nardo, Barbara; Battista Bianchi, Giovanni; Giaquinto, Sabrina; Benetti, Giampiero; Quagliolo, Michela; Riccardo Centenaro, Giuseppe; Purrello, Francesco; Di Pino, Antonino; Piro, Salvatore; Mancuso, Gerardo; Calipari, Daniela; Bartone, Mosè; Gullo, Francesco; Cortellaro, Michele; Magenta, Marina; Perego, Francesca; Rachele Meroni, Maria; Cicardi, Marco; Gidaro Marina Magenta, Antonio; Sacco, Andrea; Bonelli, Antonio; Dentamaro, Gaetano; Rozzini, Renzo; Falanga, Lina; Giordano, Alessandro; Cavallo Perin, Paolo; Lorenzati, Bartolomeo; Gruden, Gabriella; Bruno, Graziella; Greco, Elisabetta; Tizzani, Pietro; Fera, Giacomo; Loreta Di Luca, Maria; Renna, Donatella; Perciccante, Antonio; Coralli, Alessia; Tassara, Rodolfo; Melis, Deborah; Rebella, Lara; Menardo, Giorgio; Bottone, Stefania; Sferrazzo, Elsa; Ferri, Claudio; Striuli, Rinaldo; Scipioni, Rosa; Salmi, Raffaella; Gaudenzi, Piergiorgio; Gamberini, Susanna; Ricci, Franco; Morabito, Cosimo; Fava, Roberto; Semplicini, Andrea; Gottardo, Lucia; Delitala, Giuseppe; Carta, Stefano; Atzori, Sebastiana; Vendemiale, Gianluigi; Serviddio, Gaetano; Forlano, Roberta; Bolondi, Luigi; Rasciti, Leonardo; Serio, Ilaria; Masala, Cesare; Mammarella, Antonio; Raparelli, Valeria; Rossi Fanelli, Filippo; Delfino, Massimo; Amoroso, Antonio; Violi, Francesco; Basili, Stefania; Perri, Ludovica; Serra, Pietro; Fontana, Vincenzo; Falcone, Marco; Landolfi, Raffaele; Grieco, Antonio; Gallo, Antonella; Zuccalà, Giuseppe; Franceschi, Francesco; De Marco, Guido; Chiara, Cordischi; Marta, Sabbatini; Bellusci, Martino; Setti, Donatella; Pedrazzoli, Filippo; Romanelli, Giuseppe; Pirali, Caterina; Amolini, Claudia; Agabiti Rosei, Enrico; Rizzoni, Damiano; Castoldi, Luana; Picardi, Antonio; Vespasiani, Umberto; Gentilucci, ; Mazzarelli, Chiara; Gallo, Paolo; Guasti, Luigina; Castiglioni, Luana; Maresca, Andrea; Squizzato, Alessandro; Contini, Sara; Molaro, Marta; Annoni, Giorgio; Corsi Sara Zazzetta, Maurizio; Bertolotti, Marco; Mussi, Chiara; Scotto, Roberto; Alice Ferri, Maria; Veltri, Francesca; Arturi, Franco; Succurro, Elena; Sesti, Giorgio; Gualtieri Francesco Perticone, Umberto; Sciacqua, Angela; Quero, Michele; Bagnato, Chiara; Loria, Paola; Angela Becchi, Maria; Martucci, Gianfranco; Fantuzzi, Alessandra; Maurantonio, Mauro; Corinaldesi, Roberto; De Giorgio, Roberto; Serra, Mauro; Grasso, Valentina; Ruggeri, Eugenio; Mauro Carozza, Lorenzo; Pignatti., Fabio. - In: DRUGS & AGING. - ISSN 1170-229X. - 33:9(2016), pp. 647-654. [10.1007/s40266-016-0395-9]
Therapeutic Duplicates in a Cohort of Hospitalized Elderly Patients: Results from the REPOSI Study
Francesco Paciullo;Sarah Damanti;
2016-01-01
Abstract
Background Explicit criteria for potentially inappropriate prescriptions in the elderly are recommended to avoid prescriptions of duplicate drug classes and to optimize monotherapy within a single drug class before a new agent is considered. Duplicate drug class prescription (or therapeutic duplicates) puts the patient at increased risk of adverse drug reactions with no additional therapeutic benefits. To our knowledge, the prevalence of elderly inpatients receiving therapeutic duplicates has never been studied.Objectives Our objective was to assess the prevalence of therapeutic duplicates at admission, discharge, and 3-month follow-up of hospitalized elderly patients.Methods This cross-sectional prospective study was conducted in 97 Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards. Therapeutic duplicates were defined as at least two drugs of the same therapeutic class prescribed simultaneously to a patient. A patient's drug therapy at admission relates to prescriptions from general practitioners, whereas prescriptions at discharge are those from hospital internists or geriatricians.Results The study sample comprised 5821 admitted and 4983 discharged patients. In all, 143 therapeutic duplicates were found at admission and 170 at discharge. The prevalence of patients exposed to at least one therapeutic duplicate rose significantly from hospital admission (2.5 %) to discharge (3.4 %; p = 0.0032). Psychotropic drugs and drugs for peptic ulcer or gastroesophageal reflux disease were the most frequently involved. A total of 86.8 % of patients discharged with at least one therapeutic duplicate were still receiving them at 3-month follow-up.Conclusions Hospitalization and drugs prescribed by internists and geriatricians are both factors associated with a small but definite increase in overall therapeutic duplicates in elderly patients admitted to internal medicine and geriatric wards. More attention should be paid to the indications for each drug prescribed, because therapeutic duplicates are not supported by evidence and increase both the risk of adverse drug reactions and costs. Identification of unnecessary therapeutic duplicates is essential for the optimization of polypharmacy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
