Change in number of potentially inappropriate medications impacts on the nutritional status in a convalescent rehabilitation setting

Abstract

Aim: The association between potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) use and nutritional status is unclear in Japan. The aim of the present study was to establish whether PIM use during hospitalization affects the nutritional status among geriatric patients in the convalescing stage.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study included consecutive geriatric patients admitted and discharged from convalescent rehabilitation wards between 2010 and 2016. Participants were divided based on the presence or absence of increased PIM from admission to discharge. Demographic data, laboratory data and the Functional Independence Measure were analyzed between groups. We used the 2015 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria to screen for PIM, and the primary outcome was the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index at discharge. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine whether Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index at discharge was independently associated with increased PIM.

Results: In total, 643 participants (220 men, 423 women; interquartile range 73-85 years) were included in the present study. Multiple linear regression analysis for increased PIM, adjusting for confounding factors, showed that PIM use was independently and negatively correlated with Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index at discharge. In particular, first-generation antihistamine, antipsychotic, benzodiazepine, proton pump inhibitor and non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drug use increased significantly from admission to discharge.

Conclusions: Increased PIM might be a predictor of nutritional status in geriatric patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 44-50.

Keywords: Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index; convalescent rehabilitation; geriatric patients; potentially inappropriate medications.