The most common patterns of PIMs
The average number of medications prescribed was 6.0±1.5. The most frequently prescribed PIMs independent of diagnoses or conditions were proton-pump inhibitors (12.9%), diuretics (8.2%) and central nervous system medications (6.9%). The most common category of central nervous system (CNS) medications that were inappropriately used fell into benzodiazepines, predominantly accounting for 76.8% of all CNS medications. Cardiovascular medications (2.7%), aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in adults aged over 70 (2.7%), pain medications (2.1%) and drugs with strong anticholinergic properties (2.0%) respectively took up a small proportion of the PIM prescriptions as well. The prevalence of PIMs independent of diagnoses or conditions was provided in Supplement Table 1.