A retrospective analysis of adverse events in the elderly in a tertiary referral center in Mumbai (Bombay), India

Background : Adverse events (AEs) account for significant morbidity and mortality in elderly. Inappropriate medication usage has been regarded as an important factor contributing to AEs in them. Beers criteria are a set of standard criteria for guiding drug prescription in elderly.
Objective : To estimate the burden of AEs in the elderly in India and use of Beers criteria for assessing appropriateness of drug prescription in them.
Materials and Methods : Data on AEs collected by our tertiary referral center for the years 2005 and 2006 was analyzed. The term ′elderly individuals′ was defined as those aged ≥58 years. An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence with a medicinal product in a patient or a clinical investigation, whether or not causally related.
Results : In 2005, 321 AEs were reported, and in 2006 there were 673. Of them, those in the elderly constituted 60 (18.9%) and 44 (11.8%) AEs in the 2 years, respectively. About 7 (11.6%) of the AEs in elderly in 2005 were due to medications not fulfilling Beers criteria but none in 2006. Two thirds of the AEs in both years were found to be due to antidiabetics, oral anticoagulants and antiplatelets and drugs with a narrow therapeutic index. Warfarin, digoxin and insulin accounted for a quarter of the AEs.
Conclusions : Some commonly used medications account for a major proportion of AEs in elderly. Prospective studies of similar nature could further help us assess the burden of AEs in elderly.