Improving the quality of medication use and medication safety are important priorities for healthcare providers who care for older adults. The objective of this article was to identify four exemplary articles with this focus in 2023. We selected high-quality studies that advanced this field of research. The chosen articles cover domains related to deprescribing/discontinuation, optimizing medication use, medication safety/adverse drug events, and other. The first study was a randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of the patient-centered Shed-MEDS deprescribing intervention among older adults transitioning from the hospital to postacute care facilities (domain: deprescribing/discontinuation). The second study, a retrospective cohort study among Medicare beneficiaries, described the phenomenon of a prescribing cascade relic and evaluated continued potassium use after discontinuation of a loop diuretic (domain: optimizing medication use). The third study was a systematic review and meta-analysis describing the prevalence of drug-drug interactions among community-dwelling older adults (domain: other). Lastly, the fourth study was a retrospective cohort study among Medicare beneficiaries that evaluated concurrent gabapentin and opioid use and risk of mortality (domain: medication safety). Collectively, this review succinctly highlights pertinent topics related to promoting safe use of medications and promotes awareness of optimizing older adults' medication regimens.
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F. Cerreta, K. Vučić, and A. Laslop, “Assessing Medicines for Use in the Geriatric Population,” Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 113, no. 3 (2023): 536–540, https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.2793.
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D. O'Mahony, A. Cherubini, A. R. Guiteras, et al., “STOPP/START Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing in Older People: Version 3,” European Geriatric Medicine 14, no. 4 (2023): 625–632, https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999‐023‐00777‐y.
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G. H. Wang, E. J. Morris, S. M. Smith, J. Hallas, and S. M. Vouri, “Continued Potassium Supplementation Use Following Loop Diuretic Discontinuation in Older Adults: An Evaluation of a Prescribing Cascade Relic,” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 71, no. 2 (2023): 505–515, https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18103.
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M. A. Corriere, L. L. Daniel, A. L. Dickson, et al., “Concurrent Gabapentin and Opioid Use and Risk of Mortality in Medicare Recipients With Non‐Cancer Pain,” Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 114, no. 5 (2023): 1050–1057, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266‐022‐01001‐5.
R. Edey, N. Edwards, J. Von Sychowski, A. Bains, J. Spence, and D. Martinusen, “Impact of Deprescribing Rounds on Discharge Prescriptions: An Interventional Trial,” International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy 41, no. 1 (2019): 159–166, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096‐018‐0753‐2.
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FDA In Brief: FDA Requires New Warnings for Gabapentinoids About Risk of Respiratory Depression, “Food and Drug Administration,” 2019, https://www.fda.gov/news‐events/fda‐brief/fda‐brief‐fda‐requires‐new‐warnings‐gabapentinoids‐about‐risk‐respiratory‐depression.
Grants
IIR HX002798/Health Services Research and Development
U19AG066567/NIA NIH HHS
P30AG028716/NIA NIH HHS
R01 AG07005/NIA NIH HHS
P30 AG028716/NIA NIH HHS
/Duke Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, Duke Aging Center, Duke University
