Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 19:17:3227-3238.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S484334. eCollection 2024.

A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study Assessing Potentially Inappropriate Medications for Elderly Diabetic Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Haifa A Fadil  1 , Ziyad S Alrehaili  2 , Khaled M Alharbi  3 , Abdulaziz F Almuzaini  4 , Raed Hamed Alharbi  4 , Hindi S Alharbi  4 , Hossein M Elbadawy  5   6 , Yaser M Alahmadi  1
Affiliations

A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study Assessing Potentially Inappropriate Medications for Elderly Diabetic Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Haifa A Fadil et al. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

Background: The aging global population presents challenges in medication management, particularly among diabetic elderly patients vulnerable to potentially inappropriate medications (PIM). PIM can lead to adverse outcomes like hypoglycemia, falls, cognitive decline, and hospitalizations, affecting quality of life and survival. This study aimed to assess PIM prevalence among diabetic elderly patients in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia, using the American Geriatrics Society 2023 Updated Beers Criteria.

Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted among 480 diabetic adults aged 60 years or older at a tertiary care hospital over 3 months. Data, including demographics, comorbidities, and medication use, were extracted from Electronic Health Records. 2023 AGS Updated Beers Criteria® was followed.

Results: The median age was 66 years with a male predominance (62.7%). Peripheral vascular disease (42.7%) and prior myocardial infarction (22.7%) were prevalent comorbidities. Inappropriate insulin use was observed in 17.7% of insulin users, mainly short-acting insulin without basal/long-acting insulin. Approximately 39.2% of patients were prescribed antidiabetic drugs deemed inappropriate by Beers Criteria, with Gliclazide being the most common (35.6%). Despite potential drug-disease interactions, such as urogenital infections, half of the patients received cautioned drugs, while only 4.2% experienced such infections.

Conclusion: The study highlights the prevalence of PIMs among diabetic elderly patients in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Adherence to Beers Criteria guidelines is crucial to optimize therapy for this population. Age and congestive heart failure were significant predictors of PIM use.

Keywords: PIM; Saudi Arabia; beers criteria; diabetes; elderly; insulin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comorbidities of the studied patients indicate comorbidity percentages according to Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). The horizontal column represents comorbidities as percentage from the total patients’ number (n = 480).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Appropriateness of insulin use among the studied patients. The pie chart illustrates the distribution of insulin usage among the study sample.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The use of antidiabetic drugs inappropriately prescribed for elderly patient according to Beers criteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Cire B. World’s Older Population Grows Dramatically. National Institute on Aging; 2016.
    1. Basheikh MA, et al. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Int J Ageing Dev Ctries. 2021;6:141–154.
    1. Alotaibi FM. The current view of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among older adults in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review. Front Pharmacol. 2023;14:1325871. doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1325871 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tian F, Chen Z, Zeng Y, et al. Prevalence of use of potentially inappropriate medications among older adults worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(8):e2326910–e2326910. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.26910 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Amoud MM, Omar DI, Almashjary EN, et al. Morbidity profile among older people at primary health care centers in Saudi Arabia during the period 2012-2020. Saudi Med J. 2023;44(1):45. doi:10.15537/smj.2023.44.1.20220465 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources