Quantifying cumulative anticholinergic and sedative drug load among US Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Medications with anticholinergic and sedative properties are widely used among older adults despite strong evidence of harm. The drug burden index (DBI), a pharmacological screening tool, measures these properties across drug classes, and higher DBI drug exposure (DBI > 1) has been associated with certain physical function-related adverse events. Our aim was to quantify mean daily DBI drug exposure among older adults in the United States (US).

Methods

We screened medications for DBI properties and operationalized the DBI for US Medicare claims. We then conducted a retrospective cohort study of a 20% random, nationwide sample of 4 137 384 fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 66+ years (134 757 039 person-months) from January 2013 to December 2016. We measured t

SUBMITTER: Shmuel S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8858445 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature