Quality Indicators for Appropriate Medication Use in Vulnerable Elders

Comprehensive programs to measure the quality of medication use in vulnerable elders should evaluate each of these domains to provide the most thorough measure of the appropriateness of drug use in such patients.

Abstract

Quality Indicators for Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders16 October 2001Quality Indicators for Appropriate Medication Use in Vulnerable EldersEric L. Knight, MD, MPH and Jerry Avorn, MDEric L. Knight, MD, MPHFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. and Jerry Avorn, MDFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-135-8_Part_2-200110161-00009 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Medications are a centrally important aspect of the care of elderly patients, especially vulnerable elders, and are the final common pathway for most therapeutic decisions. While they make up only 14% of the U.S. population, persons 65 years of age and older consume more than 30% of all prescription drugs (1). 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[PMID: 9915733] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Grant Support: By a contract from Pfizer Inc. to RAND.Corresponding Author: Jerry Avorn, MD, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Knight: Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.Dr. Avorn: Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. 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Callahan, MDUpdate on drug-related problems in the elderlyPrescribing Indicators for Evaluating Drug Use in Nursing HomesComposition and Cost of Drugs Stored at Home by Elderly PatientsBringing epidemiology into drug utilisation researchDevelopment of a list of consensus-approved clinical indicators of preventable drug-related morbidity in older adultsAnticholinergics: The good and the badKwaliteitsindicatoren prescriptie aan ouderenMedication misadventure in cancer careCurrent AwarenessBalancing the Cost and Value of Medications 16 October 2001Volume 135, Issue 8_Part_2Page: 703-710KeywordsAdverse reactionsCaregiversDrug interactionsDrug therapyDrugsElderlyHypertensionInternational normalized ratioPotassiumQuality indicators ePublished: 16 October 2001 Issue Published: 16 October 2001 CopyrightCopyright © 2001 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...