| Background. Recent estimates of human and economic consequences of medication-related problems demonstrate the importance of preventing inappropriate medication use in the elderly. (Hansen, Putallaz, & Taydus, 2006) The differing pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles and the lack of data from clinical trials establishing definitive prescribing guidelines, contribute to this healthcare issue. (Avorn, 1995) In response to this lack of prescribing guidance, Beers Criteria were developed.;Beers Criteria were updated in 2002 to include medications to avoid for elderly with certain conditions, such as benzodiazepines to elderly with a history of falls. (Fick et al., 2003) The primary concerns include risk of ataxia, syncope, and additional falls. (Fick et al., 2003);Following the 1997 version of Beers Criteria, studies demonstrate a significant decline in the use of potentially inappropriate medications (Stuart et al., 2003). However, after the publication of the 2002 criteria, no study has looked at adherence to adoption of a specific criterion, such as contraindicated benzodiazepine use in the elderly with a history of falls.;Objectives. This study addressed whether or not prescribers are following Beers Criteria. The criterion indicating that benzodiazepines should not be prescribed to elderly who have experienced a fall in the last year was used as an indicator of overall adherence to Beers Criteria. Prescribing trends of benzodiazepines in community dwelling elderly with a history of falls during the first three years following the 2002 version of Beers Criteria was assessed.;Methods and Results. Data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Cost and Use Files were used to examine the prevalence of self-reported benzodiazepine use of community-dwelling elderly between 2002 and 2004. The logistic regression model showed that there was no significant change in benzodiazepine use over the study period.;Conclusions. This study has indicated that the use of benzodiazepines by the study population who experienced a fall in the last year did not decrease, indicating that this newly added criterion was not associated with a change in prescribing patterns of benzodiazepines. In addition, several independent variables were significantly associated with benzodiazepine use indicating that there are several factors that influence prescribing behavior. |
