“Stop drug overdose for the elderly” is the title of the news investigation of the association UFC Que-Choisir published this Wednesday, January 28.
The association asked its volunteers and readers to sift through prescriptions for the elderly containing at least 5 prescription lines. In all, 347 prescriptions from patients over 75 years old were analyzed, in order to shed light on the phenomenon of over-prescription of drugs.
The alarming results, to say the least, underscore that this medical practice is far from exceptional. The survey shows that, according to the sample, seniors are prescribed an average of 8.6 different drugs per day. The longest prescription even displays 21 different drugs. The association therefore wonders about the potentially dangerous effects of all these molecules: “at these prescription levels, are doctors still able to ensure that each drug is justified and is not more dangerous than beneficial ? “
Firmly convinced that this overprescription can be dangerous for the patient, UFC Que Choisir confronted the prescribed drugs with the Laroche list, which defines the drugs potentially inappropriate for the patients. the elderly. The results are worrying: 4 in 10 prescriptions could be dangerous for patients, and more than 1 in 20 people are prescribed the wrong medication. On nearly 7% of prescriptions, 2 to 4 lines of inadequate prescriptions were identified. Sleeping pills and tranquilizers, antidepressants or antispasmodics and finally vasodilators are among the most prescribed inappropriate drugs.
The association recalls that as we age, “the body becomes less and less able to eliminate the substances absorbed. Medicines therefore remain in larger quantities and longer in an aging organism. In addition, the side effects associated with taking a drug are often more serious for the elderly, more fragile. »Sleeping pills and tranquilizers could thus cause them memory problems, drowsiness, dizziness and even dizziness. falls, even if the medication was taken long hours before.
Include “deprescribing” in the remuneration criteria for physicians
In view of the results of the investigation, the UFC-Que Choisir asks the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) to include medical “deprescribing” in the criteria for the remuneration of doctors, in the same way as the prescription of generics or as the drop in the issuance of sick leave. She underlines that “beyond the health dangers, over-prescription has a cost for our social security system. Drug expenditure in France reached 33.5 billion euros in 2013, at nearly 90% for drugs reimbursable by health insurance. “
With per capita consumption 22% higher than the European average, the French remain major consumers of medicines. In this sense, according to the association, “it is essential that health professionals become aware of the health and economic cost of this situation, and finally begin to ” deprescribe ”. “
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