Inappropriate medication use in the elderly population is a significant public health concern in light of their many potentially deleterious outcomes. Recent studies by the investigators indicated that one in twenty prescriptions for the elderly in ambulatory settings involved inappropriate medications, of which inappropriate psychotropic agents constituted a major portion. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), this research will evaluate inappropriate psychotropic use by the community elderly in the United States based on the criteria defined in the clinical literature. Specific objectives of this research are: (1) to characterize community elderly using psychotropic medications in the United States, (2) to describe the nature and extent of inappropriate psychotropic use m this population, (3) to examine the factors associated with inappropriate psychotropic medication use, and (4) to assess the impact of inappropriate psychotropic use on health care utilization and costs. This study involves analyses of medical and utilization data of the cohort of persons 65 years of age or older using psychotropic medications from the 1996 MEPS. Descriptive statistics will be employed to examine inappropriate psychotropic use, and multivariate analyses will be applied to evaluate the associated factors and impact of inappropriate psychotropic use. This investigation will provide valuable information to health care providers and policy makers so as to the extent of the problem, elderly-at risk, and the resultant impact of inappropriate psychotropic use on the health care system. In addition, this research will be instrumental in optimizing pharmaceutical care provided to the elderly.
