ArticleBMC family practice2016
Why do family doctors prescribe potentially inappropriate medication to elderly patients?
Article in BMC family practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contexts and mechanisms relevant to General Practitioner (GP) based interventions to reduce adverse drug events (ADE) in community dwelling older adults: a rapid realist review.HRB open research · 2022Pooled it
- Understanding GPs' clinical reasoning processes involved in managing patients suffering from multimorbidity: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative research.International journal of clinical practice · 2021Pooled it
- Health care professionals' attitudes towards deprescribing in older patients with limited life expectancy: A systematic review.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- Health information management of older, multimorbid patients in German primary care: feasibility and first results of the outcome measures of a cluster-randomised controlled pilot trial - HYPERION-TransCare.BMC primary care · 2025Trial
- Article
- Medical Professionals and Pharmacological Intervention for the Treatment of Insomnia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Sleep science (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2025Article
- Article
- Trajectories of potentially inappropriate medication use among older adults in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Does Physicians' Clinical Competence, Communication Ability, or Cultural Background Influence Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs Among Older Adults With Insomnia?Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2024Article
- Prescriptions for Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIM).Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2024Article
- Article
- Potentially inappropriate medication use in the elderly: physicians' and hospital pharmacists knowledge, practice, confidence, and barriers.Journal of pharmaceutical health care and sciences · 2022Article
- Deprescribing medicines in older people living with multimorbidity and polypharmacy: the TAILOR evidence synthesis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Review
- Medication use problems among older adults at a primary care: A narrative of literature review.Aging medicine (Milton (N.S.W)) · 2022Review
- Multimorbidity and clinical reasoning through the eyes of GPs: a qualitative study.Family medicine and community health · 2021Article
- Evaluation of older persons' medications: a critical incident technique study exploring healthcare professionals' experiences and actions.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Impact of Age, Multimorbidity and Frailty on the Prescription of Preventive Antiplatelet Therapy in Older Population.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Article
- De-implementing Inhaled Corticosteroids to Improve Care and Safety in COPD Treatment: Primary Care Providers' Perspectives.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Article
- Prescription of pain medication among older cancer patients with and without an intellectual disability: a national register study.BMC cancer · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBased on changes in pharmacokinetics and -dynamics in elderly patients, there are potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) that should be avoided in patients aged ≥ 65 years. Current studies showed prescription rates of PIM between 22.5 and 28.4 % in the primary care setting. The evidence concerning reasons for PIM prescription by FPs is limited.
methodsThis mixed method study consisted of three research parts: 1) semi-standardized content analysis of patients' records, 2) qualitative interviews with FPs using a) open questions and b) selected patient-specific case vignettes and 3) qualitative interviews with FPs' medical assistants. The integration of qualitative interviews was used to explain the quantitative results (triangulation design). PIM were identified according to the German PRISCUS list. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis was done using SPSS 22.0. Qualitative content analysis of interviews was used to classify the content of the interviews for indicating pertinent categories. All data were pseudonymously recorded and analyzed.
resultsContent analysis of 1846 patients' records and interviews with 7 related FPs were conducted. Elderly patients [n = 1241, mean age: 76, females: 56.6 %] were characterized in average by 8.3 documented chronic diagnosis. 23.9 % of elderly patients received at least one PIM prescription. Sedatives/hypnotics were the most frequent prescribed PIM-drugs (13.7 %). Mental disorders, gender and number of long-term medication were detected as predictors for the probability of a PIM prescription. Common reported reasons for PIM prescription by FPs concerned limited knowledge regarding PIM, limited applicability of PIM lists in daily practice, lack of time, having no alternatives in medication, stronger patient-related factors than age that influence prescription, own bad experiences regarding changes of medication or refusal of following prescriptions of sedative/hypnotics.
conclusionsIt is essential to see FPs in a complex decision making situation with several influencing factors on their prescribing, including: patient-oriented prioritization, FPs' experiences in daily practice, FPs' knowledge regarding existing recommendations and their trust in it and organizational characteristics of FPs' daily medical practice. These pros and cons of PIM prescription in elderly patients should be considered in FPs' advanced training.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.