Publication details
Financial demands on pharmacotherapy in the elderly outpatients—a cross-sectional study
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Background and Objective: Even though the first explicit criteria of potentially inappropriate medication in the elderly patients were published more over 30 years, in everyday clinical practice can occur several problems related to multimorbidity and polypharmacotherapy of geriatric patients. In this context, health risks and the related financial demands on the healthcare systems should be observed and evaluated. The study aims to evaluate medicines prescribed for the elderly outpatients from economic aspects. Method: One-month prescription of medicinal products was analysed for outpatient geriatric patients aged 65 and older, insured at the Dôvera Health Insurance Company, Inc. in Slovakia. Main outcome measures: Focusing on the amount of prescribed medication, total price of prescribed medicines, proportion of their reimbursement and patients’ co-payment, and structure of the costs concerning the specified age groups. Results: The set consisted of 167,182 patients (22.8% of the Slovak population 65 years and older), who were prescribed 366,241 packages of medicinal products in one month. The total price of prescribed medicinal products was 4,136,675 EUR, of which the health insurance company reimbursed 84%, and 16% represented the patients’ co-payment. The most expensive outpatient treatment was ascertained in the patients' age group of 65–69 years—35.8% of the total costs. The average price of medicines on one medical prescription increased up to 79 years, with 80-year and older patients had a decreasing trend. Conclusion: In the studied set, the general practitioners had prescribed twice as many potentially inappropriate medicines as specialists. So, it is necessary to pay close attention to adherence to current recommendations and guidelines and consider the financial impacts of inappropriate medicine use to improve the quality of pharmacotherapy in elderly patients. |
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