INTRODUCTION
Elderly people are regarded as a special group of the whole society
population, so every aspect of their life should be given specific
attention. Due to the decline of body’s functions, elderly people
generally experience more chronic conditions or diseases, which usually
require co-administration of multiple medications and make them more
vulnerable to adverse drug events or medication-related problems.
The Beers Criteria, originated in 1991, were the first generally
accepted explicit criteria in aid of better prescribing for elderly
patients and have been used widely. It was first developed for nursing
home patients. Under the support of the American Geriatrics Society
(AGS), five versions of Beers Criteria have been compiled and updated,
respectively in 1997, 2003, 2012, 2015, and 2019, and are now intended
for application and evaluation medications in patients over the age of
65.1–6 Beers criteria have listed, even though not
every, potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), namely medications
with adverse risks outweighing benefits when compared to other
alternative therapies.7
There are a number of elderly patients in developing countries and
regions who are exposed to inappropriate prescriptions or polypharmacy,
and this significantly contributes to global PIMs.8,9PIMs have been proved to be related to poor health outcomes, including
falls, confusion, and even mortality, leading to negative clinical and
economic consequences.10,11 It has also been widely
believed that PIMs are preventable.12–14Interventions applying explicit criteria have been found to be an
effective strategy to reduce inappropriate medication
usage.4,15,16
The aim of this research was to estimate the prevalence of PIMs in
elderly patients in China based on 2019 updated Beers Criteria. The
relationship between the prevalence of PIMs and four main factors
including age, number of current diseases, number of prescribed
medications, and hospital tier was also investigated. The results can
serve as a baseline for future studies if the Beers Criteria were to be
generally used in
China.