Potentially inappropriate medications prescribing to elderly patients with advanced chronic kidney by using 2019 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) is defined as a drug‐carrying risks outweighing the expected clinical benefits. Elderly patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are particularly at higher risk of drug‐related toxicities. In Lebanon, no studies have been conducted regarding the prescribing of PIMs in hospitalized CKD patients. This study aimed to check the prevalence of PIMs using the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Beers criteria in elderly patients with advanced CKD stages including dialysis and to identify possible risk factors that may be associated with prescribing PIMs in this population. METHODS: A retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted on patients with advanced CKD above the age of 65 years and admitted between January 2019 and June 2019 to two University Hospitals in Beirut, Lebanon. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to determine which factors were associated with prescription of PIMs according to AGS Beers criteria‐2019. RESULTS: The study sample included 199 patients with renal dysfunction, 75.9% were aged 70 years or more, 53.8% were females, and 61.8% were prescribed five drugs or more. Eighty‐two patients were receiving hemodialysis (41.2%). PIMs prevalence was 34.1% (68/199 patients) according to Beers criteria in elderly patients with advanced CKD stages. The most frequently prescribed PIMs were ranitidine (39.1%), enoxaparin (25%), tramadol (9.8%), and ciprofloxacin (5.4%). Polypharmacy (OR 2.1, CI 95% 1.58‐2.79), a higher number of comorbidities (OR 3.01, CI 95% 1.43‐6.30), and coronary artery diseases (OR 3.14 CI 95% 1.44‐6.85) were the factors associated with an increased risk of at least one PIM prescription. CONCLUSION: Our study found that one out of three patients with advanced CKD had at least one PIM according to the latest Beers criteria. A large proportion of inappropriate prescribing is preventable by increasing awareness of prescribing physicians to the explicit lists of PIMs.