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What is known and objective There are few studies examining both drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in older adults. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of potential drug-drug and drug-disease interactions and associated factors in community-dwelling older adults. Methods This cross-sectional study included 3055 adults aged 70-79 without mobility limitations at their baseline visit in the Health Aging and Body Composition Study conducted in the communities of Pittsburgh PA and Memphis TN, USA. The outcome factors were potential drug-drug and drug-disease interactions as per the application of explicit criteria drawn from a number of sources to self-reported prescription and non-prescription medication use. Results Over one-third of participants had at least one type of interaction. Approximately one quarter (25·1%) had evidence of had one or more drug-drug interactions. Nearly 10·7% of the participants had a drug-drug interaction that involved a non-prescription medication. % The most common drug-drug interaction was non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) affecting antihypertensives. Additionally, 16·0% had a potential drug-disease interaction with 3·7% participants having one involving non-prescription medications. The most common drug-disease interaction was aspirin/NSAID use in those with history of peptic ulcer disease without gastroprotection. Over one-third (34·0%) had at least one type of drug interaction. Each prescription medication increased the odds of having at least one type of drug interaction by 35-40% [drug-drug interaction adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1·35, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1·27-1·42; drug-disease interaction AOR = 1·30; CI = 1·21-1·40; and both AOR = 1·45; CI = 1·34-1·57]. A prior hospitalization increased the odds of having at least one type of drug interaction by 49-84% compared with those not hospitalized (drug-drug interaction AOR = 1·49, 95% CI = 1·11-2·01; drug-disease interaction AOR = 1·69, CI = 1·15-2·49; and both AOR = 1·84, CI = 1·20-2·84). What is new and conclusion Drug interactions are common among community-dwelling older adults and are associated with the number of medications and hospitalization in the previous year. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the impact of drug interactions on health-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woojung Lee,1 Shelly L Gray,1 Douglas Barthold,1 Paul K Crane,2 Eric B Larson,3 Zachary A Marcum1 1School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; 2School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA; 3Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USACorrespondence: Zachary A MarcumDepartment of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Box 357630, Seattle, WA 98102, USATel +1 206-685-2559Fax +1 206-543-3835Email zmarcum@uw.edu Twitter @zacharyamarcumPurpose: Antihypertensives may have effects on the brain beyond blood pressure lowering. Ongoing clinical trials aim to evaluate the effectiveness of approved antihypertensives in preventing dementia, including patients with and without hypertension. In order for a dementia prevention strategy using antihypertensives to be effective, it is critical to understand patient concerns about this strategy in both users and non-users of antihypertensives. Thus, this study examined the association between current use of antihypertensive and having concerns about using an antihypertensive as a dementia prevention strategy, as well as sociodemographic factors associated with concerns.Patients and methods: Cross-sectional, self-administered, web-based survey was conducted among 1661 patients in a large health system in January 2018. Participants reported whether they were currently taking an antihypertensive (yes/no), and what types of hypothetical concerns they have about the idea of taking an antihypertensive to prevent dementia (yes/no, for each of 7 concerns). Associations between the two variables were assessed via logistic regression, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.Results: Most respondents were female (77%), 51–70 years of age (64%), and white (89%), with 30% reporting current antihypertensive use. Compared to current users, non-users were more likely to report the five following concerns: side effects from the medication, hassle to take medications, lack of evidence, not wanting to use medications, and already having normal/low blood pressure. Non-users were also less likely to report having no concerns (adjusted OR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.2–0.4) compared to current users. Younger age and lower income were associated with having more concerns.Conclusion: Patients not currently using an antihypertensive are more likely to have concerns about using an antihypertensive for dementia prevention, compared to current antihypertensive users. Patient perspectives are important to consider for the implementation of dementia prevention strategies.Keywords: dementia, antihypertensives, primary prevention, patient concerns, patient perspectives

Objective: To assess the impact of a national immunization training certificate program on the perceived knowledge, skills and attitudes of pharmacy students toward pharmacy-based immunizations.Methods: The study design utilized a pre- and post-survey administered to pharmacy students before and after the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program. The primary outcome explored was a change in the perceived knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the pharmacy students. A five-point Likert scale (i.e. strongly agree = 5, strongly disagree = 1) was used for measuring the main outcomes, which was summated by adding the individual item scores in each section to form a composite score for each outcome. Results: The certificate training program resulted in a significant improvement in knowledge (38.5% increase in score, p

Background: Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in older adults are medications in which risks often outweigh benefits and are suggested to be avoided. Worldwide, many distinct guidelines and tools classify PIMs in older adults. Collating these guidelines and tools, mapping them to a medication classification system, and creating a crosswalk will enhance the utility of PIM guidance for research and clinical practice., Methods: We used the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System, a hierarchical classification system, to map PIMs from eight distinct guidelines and tools (2019 Beers Criteria, Screening Tool for Older Person's Appropriate Prescriptions [STOPP], STOPP-Japan, German PRISCUS, European Union-7 Potentially Inappropriate Medication [PIM] list, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] High-Risk Medication, Anticholinergic Burden Scale, and Drug Burden Index). Each PIM was mapped to ATC Level 5 (drug) and to ATC Level 4 (drug class). We then used the crosswalk (1) to compare PIMs and PIM drug classes across guidelines and tools to determine the number of PIMs that were index (drug-induced adverse event) or marker (treatment of drug-induced adverse event) drug of prescribing cascades, and (2) estimate the prevalence of PIM use in older adults continuously enrolled with fee-for-service Medicare in 2018 as use cases. Data visualization and descriptive statistics were used to assess guidelines and tools for both use cases., Results: Out of 480 unique PIMs identified, only three medications-amitriptyline, clomipramine, and imipramine and two drug classes-N06AA (tricyclic antidepressants) and N06AB (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), were noted in all eight guidelines and tools. Using the crosswalk, 50% of classes of index drugs and 47% of classes of marker drugs of known prescribing cascades were PIMs. Additionally, 88% of Medicare beneficiaries were dispensed ≥1 PIM across the eight guidelines and tools., Conclusion: We created a crosswalk of eight PIM guidelines and tools to the ATC classification system and created two use cases. Our findings could be used to expand the ease of PIM identification and harmonization for research and clinical practice purposes., (© 2023 The American Geriatrics Society.)

Purpose of Review: We provide a review of considerations when applying principles of optimal pharmacotherapy to older adults with heart failure (HF), an analysis on the pivotal clinical trials focusing on applicability to older adults, and multi-disciplinary strategies to optimize the health of HF patients with polypharmacy., Recent Findings: Polypharmacy is very common among patients with HF, due to medications for both HF and non-HF comorbidities. Definitions of polypharmacy were not developed specifically for older adults with HF and may need to be modified in order to meaningfully describe medication burden and promote appropriate medical therapy. This is because clinical practice guidelines for multi-drug HF regimens have unique considerations, given that they improve outcomes and symptoms of HF. Adults older than 65 years are well represented in contemporary clinical trials for HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) for HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). While these trials did not have significant heterogeneity in safety or efficacy across a broad age spectrum, some may have limited representation of adults ≥ 80 years old, the sickest older adults, or those with decreased functional status. There is also a lack of data on the safety and efficacy of deprescribing HF medications, and deprescription in otherwise stable patients may lead to clinical destabilization or disease progression. There is therefore innate tension between the well-studied benefits of optimized HF therapy for older adults that must be weighed against the risks of polypharmacy and many unknowns that still exist. Given the strong evidence that optimized HF therapies confer symptomatic and mortality benefits for older adults, it is clear that polypharmacy in this context can be appropriate. A shift in paradigm is therefore needed when evaluating polypharmacy in patients with HF. Instead of assuming all polypharmacy is "good" or "bad," we propose a concerted move, using a multidisciplinary approach, to focus on the "appropriateness" of specific medications, in order to optimize HF medical therapy. Clinicians of all specialties caring for complex older adults with HF must consider goals of care, functional status, and new evidence-based therapies, in order to optimize this polypharmacy for older adults., (© 2022. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Background: Musculoskeletal pain is highly prevalent and limits mobility in older adults. A potential mechanism by which pain affects mobility could be through its negative impact on the brain. We examined whether structural integrity of cerebral gray and white matter (WM) mediated the relationship between pain and mobility in community-dwelling older adults., Methods: Musculoskeletal pain, gait speed, and neuroimaging data were obtained concurrently from the Health ABC study (mean age = 83/56% female, n = 212). Microstructural gray matter integrity was measured by mean diffusivity (MD), WM microstructure and macrostructure were measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) and WM hyperintensities (WMH), respectively. Regression models were adjusted for gray matter atrophy, age, gender, medication use, and obesity. Bootstrapped mediation methods were used (1,000 bootstrapped samples, 95% confidence intervals)., Results: The associations of musculoskeletal pain with WMH (β = .19, p < .05) and FA (β = -.18, p < .05) were robust to adjustment for gender, medication use, age, body mass index (BMI), and brain atrophy. Participants who experienced both knee and back pain had a significantly slower gait speed (~0.11 m/s) than those without knee or back pain (p < .05) independent of gender, medication, age, and BMI. WMH and FA significantly mediated the pain-gait speed relationship. Associations between pain and MD were not significant, and MD did not modify the association between pain and gait speed., Conclusions: Cerebral WM integrity may contribute to the detrimental effects of musculoskeletal pain on mobility, although pre-existing WM integrity may also simultaneously amplify pain and decrease mobility. Future studies are needed to further understand whether successful pain management may significantly improve both brain health and mobility., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: To evaluate whether buprenorphine transdermal system (BTDS; Butrans®) is an option for the treatment of chronic pain in older adults., Methods: This retrospective analysis of 16 placebo- and active-controlled and uncontrolled studies (N = 6566) evaluated the safety and tolerability profile in patients exposed to BTDS and compared the safety profiles associated with BTDS treatment in older patients ≥ 65 years of age (65 to 98 years) and younger patients < 65 years of age (18 to 64 years). Safety analyses included adverse events (AEs), laboratory values, and electrocardiograms., Results: Overall, the incidence of AEs was similar in the ≥ 65 year patient cohort (N = 1715) and the < 65 year patient cohort (N = 4843) (63.8% and 61.0%, respectively). The older patient cohort experienced more constipation, peripheral edema, and urinary tract infection, but fewer application-site AEs (eg, erythema, irritation, pruritus, rash) and headaches. A statistically significant treatment-by-age interaction was observed for fall, arthralgia, and localized and non-application site-related rash, suggesting a differential increase in the risk of these events among older patients treated with BTDS that cannot be explained by age or treatment alone. A similar trend was observed for accidents and injuries, and for falls, in patients treated with both BTDS and active controls (oxycodone/acetaminophen [OXY/APAP] and hydrocodone/acetaminophen [HCD/APAP]), suggesting an opioid class effect. However, due to small sample sizes of the active control groups, a statistical test of treatment-by-age interaction could not be conducted for the active controls. The incidences of serious AEs and of clinically significant increases in liver enzymes, such as AST, ALT and bilirubin were small, regardless of age., Conclusion: BTDS appears to be a viable option for the management of pain in older adults, but the benefits need to be tempered by potential risks among older adults.

The prescribing of drug therapies in older adults presents a number of safety challenges. The increased complexity of chronic care for older adults has led to polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication use, which can contribute to drug-induced diseases, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, cognitive impairment, falls, hospitalization, and mortality. In this review, the authors discuss recent medication safety literature pertaining to the classes of medications commonly prescribed to older adults: anticholinergics, psychiatric medications, and antibiotics. Safety concerns associated with the use of these medications and the implications for long-term care practitioners are reviewed. The information provided can be used to inform and improve geriatric care delivered by practitioners across health care environments.

More than 100 medications were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as new drugs or for new indications in 2014 and 2015. Several of the new drugs may benefit older adults, but adverse events and pharmacokinetic changes due to aging must be considered. This article will focus on three recently approved drugs that are marketed for chronic conditions that can affect older adults: suvorexant, for treatment of insomnia; edoxaban, for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and for treatment of venous thromboembolism; and droxidopa, for treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension. Information about indications, mechanisms of action, dosing, efficacy, and safety are reviewed. The place of each agent in therapy for older adults is also discussed.