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Longitudinal prevalence of potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study

  • Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
  • Published:
European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to estimate (i) the prevalence of potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in a nationally representative sample of older adults using the Potentially Serious Alcohol-Medication Interactions in Older adults (POSAMINO) criteria, and (ii) whether POSAMINO prevalence changes over time.

Methods

A prospective cohort study of adults aged ≥ 65 years, using data from the first three waves of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). All 38 POSAMINO criteria were applied at each wave using respondents’ information on regular medications and alcohol consumption. Multilevel logistic regression and negative binomial models were used to investigate whether the prevalence of POSAMINO varied over time.

Results

The overall prevalence of POSAMINO was 18% at baseline, with 8% at risk of one potentially serious alcohol-medication interaction, and 10% at risk of two or more. The most common POSAMINO involved cardiovascular (CVS) agents (15% baseline; 11% wave 2; 14% wave 3), followed by central nervous system (CNS) agents (4% baseline; 4% wave 2; 5% wave 3). Prevalence of any POSAMINO (AOR 0.94, 95% CI 0.81, 1.08) or number of POSAMINO criteria (AIRR 0.97, 95% CI 0.91, 1.04) did not change over time. Any POSAMINO and number of POSAMINO were associated with younger age, male sex and number of medications and chronic conditions.

Conclusions

Potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions occurred in 18% of older adults in this study. Alcohol screening and brief interventions should be considered for high-risk groups at the point of prescribing, particularly among younger older adults, men and as patients receive more medications or develop additional illnesses.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland under the Clement Archer PhD Scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, RCSI, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

    Alice Holton, Paul Gallagher & Gráinne Cousins

  2. HRB Centre for Primary Care Research, RCSI, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

    Fiona Boland

  3. Department of General Practice and HRB Centre for Primary Care Research, RCSI, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

    Tom Fahey

  4. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Rose Anne Kenny

Authors
  1. Alice Holton
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  2. Fiona Boland
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  3. Paul Gallagher
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  4. Tom Fahey
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  5. Rose Anne Kenny
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  6. Gráinne Cousins
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gráinne Cousins.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval for TILDA was approved by the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee at Trinity College Dublin and all participants gave informed written consent.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

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Holton, A., Boland, F., Gallagher, P. et al. Longitudinal prevalence of potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 75, 569–575 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-018-02608-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-018-02608-7

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