ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨

Close search bar

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescribed to Seniors

The rate of senior claimants with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list accepted by a public drug program.

This indicator is interpreted as the rate of seniors who take a medication identified as potentially inappropriate to prescribe to seniors because it is either ineffective or it poses unnecessarily high risk for older persons and a safer alternative is available. It should be noted that there may be cases where it is appropriate for seniors to take drugs on the Beers list.

There may be differences in population characteristics (such as age and health status) between seniors with and without public coverage. In provinces where a lower proportion of seniors have claims accepted by the public plan, drug utilization patterns among those with public coverage are more likely to be affected by these differences and, therefore, may be less reflective of utilization patterns among all seniors in the province.

Data updated:
Data availability: to (fiscal years)
Geographic coverage
Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon
Reporting level
Province/Territory
Calculation

The total number of seniors with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list that was accepted by a public drug program divided by the total number of seniors with at least one claim for any drug accepted by a public drug program

Unit of Analysis: Patients

Denominator

Total number of seniors with at least one claim accepted by a public drug program

Numerator

Total number of senior claimants with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list accepted by a public drug program

Download CSV Expand/collapse all All accordions expanded

Name

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescribed to Seniors

Short/Other Names

Percentage Rate of Beers Drug Use Among Seniors on Public Drug Programs

Description

The rate of seniors who have a claim from the Beers list (American Geriatrics Society [AGS] 2019 Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults)

Rationale

Seniors are at greater risk for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) as well as other types of drug-related adverse events due to the number of drugs they take, the higher prevalence of certain chronic conditions and age-related changes in the body. The higher prevalence of chronic conditions does contribute to the number of drugs seniors take. However, it is important to evaluate the appropriateness of each medication prescribed.

The Beers list is an internationally recognized list of drugs identified as potentially inappropriate to prescribe to seniors because they are ineffective, they pose unnecessarily high risk for older persons or a safer alternative is available.

Interpretation

This indicator is interpreted as the rate of seniors who take a medication identified as potentially inappropriate to prescribe to seniors because it is either ineffective or it poses unnecessarily high risk for older persons and a safer alternative is available. It should be noted that there may be cases where it is appropriate for seniors to take drugs on the Beers list.

There may be differences in population characteristics (such as age and health status) between seniors with and without public coverage. In provinces where a lower proportion of seniors have claims accepted by the public plan, drug utilization patterns among those with public coverage are more likely to be affected by these differences and, therefore, may be less reflective of utilization patterns among all seniors in the province.

HSP Framework Dimension

ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ system outputs: Safe

Areas of Need

Living With Illness, Disability or Reduced Function

Targets/Benchmarks

Not applicable

Available Data Years

to (fiscal years)

Geographic Coverage

  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Prince Edward Island
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Manitoba
  • Saskatchewan
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Yukon

Reporting Level/Disaggregation

  • Province/Territory

Indicator Results

Web Tool:

PDF:
Accessing Indicator Results on Your ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ System: In Depth (PDF)

Update Frequency

Whenever required for analytical product or data request

Latest Results Update Date

Updates

In the 2019 update, 2 medications (ticlopidine and pentazocine) were removed and 4 medications (glimepiride, homatropine, methscopolamine and pyrilamine) were added, compared with the 2015 criteria. These changes caused an absolute decrease of 0.3% in the proportion of seniors identified as using a drug meeting the Beers criteria.

Description

The total number of seniors with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list that was accepted by a public drug program divided by the total number of seniors with at least one claim for any drug accepted by a public drug program

Unit of Analysis: Patients

Type of Measurement

Percentage or proportion

Denominator

Description:

Total number of seniors with at least one claim accepted by a public drug program

Inclusions:

  1. All seniors (age 65 years and older)

Exclusions:

  1. All non-seniors (age younger than 65 years)

Numerator

Description:

Total number of senior claimants with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list accepted by a public drug program

Inclusions:

  1. All seniors (age 65 years and older) with at least one claim for a drug from the Beers list

Exclusions:

  1. All non-seniors (age younger than 65 years)
  2. Seniors without a claim from the Beers list

Method of Adjustment

Direct standardization

Standard Population
Canadian senior population (Statistics Canada, Demography Division, CANSIM table)

Adjustment Applied

Age-sex-adjusted

Geographic Assignment

Place of service

Data Sources

  • NPDUIS Database

Caveats and Limitations

The National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) Database includes claims accepted by public drug programs, either for reimbursement or toward a deductible. Claims are included regardless of whether or not the patient actually used the drugs.

The NPDUIS Database does not include information regarding

  • Prescriptions that were written but never dispensed
  • Prescriptions that were dispensed but for which the associated drug costs were not submitted to or not accepted by the public drug programs
  • Diagnoses or conditions for which prescriptions were written

The NPDUIS Database contains claims data from public drug programs in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon. The First Nations and Inuit ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Branch (FNIHB), a federal drug program, also submits data, which comes from all Canadian provinces and territories (including those not listed above).

Trending Issues

All data is not available for all years:

  • Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, New Brunswick: From January 2000
  • Nova Scotia: From April 2001
  • Prince Edward Island: From April 2004
  • British Columbia: From January 2006
  • Yukon: From January 2007
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: From April 2008
  • Ontario: From April 2010
  • First Nations and Inuit ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Branch: From October 2010

Comments

Results for this indicator are also available on

References

Not applicable

How to cite:

Canadian Institute for ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Information. Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescribed to Seniors . Accessed January 4, 2025.

If you would like ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨information in a different format, visit our Accessibility page.