JULIE FREELAND. High-Risk Medication Use: The Dilemma in the Older Adult Population. (Under the direction of DR. MEREDITH TROUTMAN-JORDAN) Introduction: The use of high-risk medications in the older adult population is an issue currently gaining attention. Tools are being developed to help guide clinicians in their prescribing and deprescribing of these medications. Prior research has shown that decreasing the use of certain high-risk medications can help decrease the incidences of falls, hospitalizations, and minimize adverse events. Method: A non-randomized, interventional cohort study, was completed delving into the topic of the effect that education may have on the use of high-risk medications. The BEERS criteria were used to decide which medications were deemed high-risk. A total of 50 patients were educated regarding high-risk medications with the plan to decrease their medication or change to a safer alternative if deemed appropriate. The patients had follow-up phone calls one week after the change, and again one month after the initial appointment to document adherence to the medication changes. Results: The Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used and found the 50th percentile median of initial BEERS score was 3, and the 50th percentile median for final BEERS score was 2.50. Significance (p) was found <0.001 which was deemed statistically significant. Education provided was also found to be statistically significant at p<0.001. Discussion: Providing education and discussion regarding medications did result in a reduction overall in the number of BEERS medications utilized. Education provided also was shown to be effective, as at the initial appointment 64% (N=32) of the patients felt they had a full understanding of their medications and by the final survey 94% (N=47) of the patients reported a full understanding of their medications. Minimizing BEERS medications help to diminish adverse events, as well as decrease medication costs that patients may endure.
