Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32868351›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2020

Prevalence of potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in older adults in a community pharmacy setting: a cross-sectional study.

Alice E Holton, Cora Keeney, Benedict Ryan, Gráinne Cousins

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Acute Alcohol Use and Suicide.JAMA network open · 2025
    Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Factors affecting primary care practitioners' alcohol-related discussions with older adults: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Validation of the AUDIT and AUDIT-C for Hazardous Drinking in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Alice E HoltonSchool of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Cora KeeneySchool of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Benedict RyanSchool of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Gráinne CousinsSchool of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland gcousins@rcsi.ie.ORCID 0000-0003-2985-7668
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePrevious prevalence estimates of POtentially Serious Alcohol-Medication INteractions in Older adults (POSAMINO) are based on in-home inventories of medications; however, this method is associated with under-reporting of medications when compared with dispensing records. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of POSAMINO among community-dwelling older adults using drug dispensing data from the community pharmacy setting.

designCross-sectional study.

settingIrish Community Pharmacy.

participants1599 consecutive older adults presenting with a prescription to 1 of 120 community pharmacies nationwide; community-dwelling, aged ≥65 years, able to speak and understand English, with no evidence of cognitive impairment. The mean age of sample was 75.5 years (SD 6.5); 55% (n=884) female. MEASURES: 38 POSAMINO criteria were identified using participants' pharmacy dispensing records linked to self-reported alcohol consumption (beverage-specific quantity and frequency measures) over the last 12 months.

resultsThe overall prevalence of POSAMINO in the study population was 28%, with 10% at risk of at least one POSAMINO criteria and 18% at risk of two or more. Exposure to POSAMINO most commonly involved cardiovascular agents (19%) and central nervous system agents (15%). Exposure to a higher number of POSAMINO criteria was associated with younger age (adjusted incident rate ratio (AIRR): 0.97; 95% CI: 0.95 to 0.98), male sex (AIRR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.45 to 0.67) and a higher number of comorbidities (AIRR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.13).

conclusionThis study adds to the growing body of evidence, which suggests that older adults are vulnerable to potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions, particularly those involving cardiovascular and central nervous system agents, increasing their risk of orthostatic hypotension, gastrointestinal bleeds and increased sedation. Application of the POSAMINO criteria at the point of prescribing may facilitate the risk stratification of older adults and prioritise alcohol screening and brief alcohol interventions in those at greatest risk of harm.

Indexed as

Food-Drug InteractionsAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsAlcoholic BeveragesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMalePharmaciesPrevalenceRisk FactorsSex Factorsepidemiologygeriatric medicineold age psychiatrypublic healthsubstance misuse

Identifiers

PMID32868351
PMCPMC7462154
OpenAlexW3081552003

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.