ArticleCureus2025
Prescribing Patterns and Pharmacotherapeutic Risk Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Drug Burden Index and its association with postural balance and falls among community-dwelling older adults.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Prescribing for older adults can be particularly challenging, as treatment regimens are often complex in geriatric patients, increasing the likelihood of polypharmacy, escalating the risk of exposure to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), and to a pharmacotherapeutic risk. Therefore, this study aims to identify prescribing patterns and the pharmacotherapeutic risk in community-dwelling older adults in Brazil. Methodology This cross-sectional study included 504 physically independent older individuals who self-reported sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and data on current pharmacologic therapies. To analyze the pharmacotherapy, all medications used by the patients were recorded, including complementary alternative medications and over-the-counter medications (OTC). The Beers 2023 criteria were used to identify PIMs. Pharmacotherapeutic risk was stratified into two categories based on the presence of PIMs or OTC on the medication regimen. Results This study included 504 older adults (mean age = 69.5 ± 6.4 years), 339 women (67.3%), and 165 men (32.7%). Polypharmacy was observed in 136 (26.98%) individuals, while 180 (36.0%) individuals were using PIMs. Moreover, 97 (19.2%) individuals used OTC medication. Notably, 205 (40.7%) older individuals were classified as being at pharmacotherapeutic risk. In logistic regression, individuals with polypharmacy had nearly five times increased risk of being at pharmacotherapeutic risk (odds ratio = 4.9, p = 0.001), after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Conclusions A marked pharmacotherapeutic risk was observed, driven chiefly by polypharmacy among community-dwelling older adults. Thus, medical education regarding rational use of medication and deprescribing practices can help mitigate adverse outcomes in older adults. Moreover, future research should focus on user-centered design of technological solutions to support clinicians and patients in safely managing and discontinuing high-risk medications.
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.