Patterns of Drug Use in Geriatric Patients at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

BACKGROUND Geriatrics is a specialty of medicine that focuses on the health and well-being of the elderly. The elderly in India make up 12.8% of the world's total population. Elderly people sometimes have a wide range of health issues that necessitate the use of prescription medications to treat and avoid consequences. All other age groups use fewer drugs than the elderly do. The current study was done to determine the drug use patterns of elderly patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Jammu and Kashmir. METHODS This was a four-month-long study in a tertiary care hospital in Jammu and Kashmir that used a prospective and observational approach. The patient case records, patient/patient caretaker interview at the bedside, prescription charts, and lab results were used to gather pertinent patient data for the study. After getting the patient's/patient caretaker's permission, patients who met the eligibility requirements were enrolled. RESULTS For a total of four months, 120 patients were included in the research. Patients in this study ranged in the age groups of 60 to 70 years (55.73%), 71 to 80 years (25.83%), 81 to 90 years (10.83%), and more than 90 years  (7.51 percent ). In this study, individuals with a wide range of illnesses were enrolled, including COPD (21 patients), hypertension (19 patients), diabetes (13 patients), IHD (9 patients), acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma (7 patients), jaundice (4 patients), and pulmonary tuberculosis (6 patients). CONCLUSIONS It was found that poly-pharmacy is linked to a variety of side effects and interactions with medications, including an increase in adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Drug interactions can be minimized if the prescribing physician receives assistance from a clinical pharmacist when designing a treatment plan.