Correlation between potentially inappropriate medication and Alzheimer’s disease among the elderly

• Published in: Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2020-03, Vol.87, p.103842-103842, Article 103842
• Main Authors: Tao, Ping, Chen, Pei-En, Tao, Jung, Yang, Sheau-Ning, Tung, Tao-Hsin, Chien, Ching-Wen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer’s disease; Elderly; Potentially inappropriate medication
• ISSN: 0167-4943; 1872-6976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2019.03.010

•From the clinical viewpoint, elder patients with potentially inappropriate medication had increased hospitalizations, morbidity, and mortality.•We performed a nationwide population-based case-control study to examine the correlation between potentially inappropriate medication and Alzheimer's disease.•Significant positive correlation was found between PIM and AD among the elderly population. This study is conducted to explore the association between potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among the elderly. We used Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to conduct a nationwide case-control study. Elderly individuals (over 65 years of age) who had been diagnosed with AD (ICD-9-CM: 331.0) for the first time in 2011 were selected as subjects for the case group. A control group was formed by selecting elderly patients without AD using 1:1 propensity score matching. Control variables included sex, age, health status, and 31 Elixhauser comorbidities. All analyses were performed using the Resource Utilization Band (Adjusted Clinical Groups software). All health utilization data associated with PIM were traced back for a period of 5 years. We examined the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for PIM in relation to AD. We identified 5264 patients with AD (case group) and 5264 non-AD controls. After adjustment for confounding factors, proportion of all PIM (adjusted OR: 1.006, 95%CI: 1.002–1.010, p-value = 0.009) was significantly associated with AD. In conclusion, we observed a significant positive correlation between PIM and AD among elderly population.