Introduction:

improper use of medication is becoming more frequent and can cause physical or physiological damage.

Objective:

to determine the frequency of potentially inappropriate prescriptions of cardiovascular drugs according to Beers' criteria in a population of colombian patients.

Method:

cross-sectional study conducted during november 2016 using a population database of 326,192 adults over 65 years of age who were eligible to receive drugs included in the cardiovascular system category according to the Beers' criteria. The frequency of potentially inappropriate prescriptions was determined and investigated in relation to sociodemographic variables.

Results:

the mean subject age was 74.6±7.6 years (range:65-100 years). It was found that 11.3% (n=36894) of the elderly presented at least one potentially inappropriate prescription for cardiovascular conditions. The most frequent finding was the use of aspirin in patients older than 80 years of age followed by the use of prazosin for hypertension in patients over 65 years of age or in patients who consulted emergency services for syncope. The other criteria were present in less than 1% of patients, and in 16 out of 33 treatment drugs, no patients exposed to potentially inappropriate prescriptions were found. Within the criteria based on drug-drug interactions, the most frequent were loop diuretics along with prazosin (6.4%).

Conclusions:

the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions in an elderly population of patients in Colombia is lower than that reported worldwide. In addition, there is a need to re-evaluate the Beers' criteria in this population and adjust the guidelines according to results of pharmacovigilance of active pharmaceutical substances available in Colombia.

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