Drug use differs by care level. A cross-sectional comparison between older people living at home or in a nursing home in Oslo, Norway

• Published in: BMC geriatrics 2019-02, Vol.19 (1), p.49-49, Article 49
• Main Authors: Fog, Amura Francesca, Straand, Jørund, Engedal, Knut, Blix, Hege Salvesen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetaminophen; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use; Angiotensins; Anti-Anxiety Agents - therapeutic use; Antianxiety agents; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Antipsychotic agents; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Calcium channel blockers; Calcium channels; Cardiovascular agents; Community; Comparative analysis; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Diuretics; Drug therapy; Drug use; Drug Utilization - standards; Drugs; Elderly; Female; Home Care Services - standards; Homes for the Aged - standards; Humans; Male; Medical care quality; Medication Reconciliation - methods; Nitrates; Norway - epidemiology; Nursing home patients; Nursing homes; Nursing Homes - standards; Older people; Opioids; Osteoporosis; Prescription database; Prevalence; Psychotropic drugs; Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use; Quality control; Statins; Tranquilizing agents; Tricyclic antidepressants
• ISSN: 1471-2318; 1471-2318
• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-019-1064-8

Drug consumption increases with age, but there are few comparisons of drug use between old people living at home or in a nursing home. To identify areas of concern as well as in need for quality improvement in the two settings, we compared drug use among people aged ≥70 years living at home or in a nursing home. Cross-sectional observational study from Oslo, Norway. Information about drug use by people living at home in 2012 was retrieved from the Norwegian Prescription Database. Drug use in nursing homes was recorded within a comprehensive medication review during November 2011-February 2014. Prevalence rates and relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals were compared between uses of therapeutic groups with prevalence rates of ≥5%. Drug use was compared for the total population and by gender and age group. Older people (both genders) in nursing homes (n = 2313) were more likely than people living at home (n = 48,944) to use antidementia drugs (RR = 5.7), antipsychotics (RR = 4.0), paracetamol (RR = 4.0), anxiolytics (RR = 3.0), antidepressants (RR = 2.8), dopaminergic drugs (RR = 2.7), antiepileptic drugs (RR = 2.4), loop diuretics (RR = 2.3), cardiac nitrates (RR = 2.1) or opioids (RR = 2.0). By contrast, people living in a nursing home were less commonly prescribed statins (RR = 0.2), nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (RR = 0.3), osteoporosis drugs (RR = 0.3), thiazide diuretics (RR = 0.4), calcium channel blockers (RR = 0.5) or renin-angiotensin inhibitors (RR = 0.5). Each of the populations had only minor differences in drug use by gender and a trend towards less drug use with increasing age (p