Issue: Vojnosanit Pregl 2016; Vol. 73 (No. 5)

Long-term drug use and polypharmacy among the elderly population in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Authors:
Vanda Marković-Peković*, Ranko Škrbić†

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Background/Aim. Prescription of drugs is a fundamental care component of the elderly. Elderly patients often take multiple drugs, and it is known that polypharmacy may lead to drug in-teractions and adverse events. The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term drug use and the prevalence of poly-pharmacy among the elderly population in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods. A retrospective study of outpatient drug use in 2005 and 2010 was conducted, analyzing prescriptions for patients aged ≥ 65 years reimbursed by the Health Insurance Fund. The study population was strati-fied by gender and age. Long-term drug use was defined as continuous drug dispensing for a whole year or at least two thirds of the year. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of 5 or more different reimbursed drugs. Results. Of all insured peo-ple aged ≥ 65 years, long-term drug use was identified in 10% (2005) and in 19% (2010), of whom 62% were women. Two to four different drugs were used by almost 49% (2005) and 54% (2010) of the elderly patients. The polypharmacy prevalence in-creased from 1.4% (2005) to 3.6% (2010); it increased in all the age groups of both genders. The largest increase was observed in the age group 65–74 years. Polypharmacy prevalence in-crease was higher in women. The most commonly used drugs were those for to treatment of cardiovascular diseases, in par-ticular drugs for hypertension and cardiac treatment. Conclu-sion. The study findings point out to the increase of elderly population with a long-term drug use. Over a half of elderly pa-tients use 2–4 different drugs on the long-term basis. The polypharmacy prevalence was low. It increased in the period of 5 years in both genders. The increase was more prominent in women of all the age groups. The use of multiple drugs and polypharmacy increased with ageing.