A STUDY OF POLYPHARMACY AMONG THE ELDERLY WHO VISITED THE FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS IN ULAANBAATAR

10.6338/JDA.202406_19(2).0006

Uyanga Saruulkhuu；Ayurzana Amgalanbaatar；Myagmartseren Dashtseren

drug side effect ； Beers criteria ； elderly ； inappropriate medication use

Journal of Data Analysis

19卷2期（2024 / 06 / 01）

41 - 49

英文

Background: The elderly population continues to grow. In Mongolia, the population aged 60 and over accounted for 7.69 percent of the total population in 2021, while it is expected to reach 11.9 percent in 2030 and 21.1 percent by 2050. Compared to other age groups, the elderly have more instances of multimorbidity due to organ dysfunctions and use medical services more often. Thus, they are more vulnerable to drug-related problems such as polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medications, and side effects. Aim: To study the use of polypharmacy in elderly who visited family health centers in Ulaanbaatar. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 12 family health centers of 6 districts of Ulaanbaatar city. Face-to-face questionnaires were conducted by the researcher asking questions about medications that the elderly take. The study population included 420 elderly, women aged 55 years, and men aged 60 years and older. Results: We found that 17.1% of the respondents have polypharmacy. Regarding gender, women (20.4%) used more medications than men (8.6%). Also, 13.8%-18.3% of elderly aged 55-75 have polypharmacy, while 50% of elderly aged 76-80 and 12.5% of elderly over 81 years had polypharmacy. 7.4% of the elderly were using potentially inappropriate medication according to Beers criteria. Polypharmacy was 3.6 times more likely (cOR=3.611), three times more likely when adjusted by age group and sex (aOR=3.015), and 2.5 times more likely when weighted by age group and sex (wOR= 2.544) is at risk of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use. Conclusion: In Ulaanbaatar, the rate of polypharmacy among the elderly is lower than in some other countries. Polypharmacy increases the risk of inappropriate medication use.