Abstract
Background: The Drug Burden Index (DBI), a measure of an individual’s exposure to anticholinergic and sedative medications, is associated with functional impairment in community-dwelling, older people. In people from residential aged care facilities (RACFs), DBI score does not appear to be associated with functional impairment, but is associated with an increased risk of falls.
Objective: We investigated the associations between increasing DBI score and mortality in older adults living in RACFs.
Methods: Study participants (n= 602; 70.9% female), recruited from 51 RACFs in Sydney, Australia, had a mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of 85.7 ±6.4 years and a mean ± SD DBI score of 0.58 ± 0.64.
Results: Exposure to anticholinergic medication was 33.6% and sedative medications 41.9%. All-cause mortality after a variable follow-up time (774–1269 days) was 36.2% (n = 218), with the leading causes of death classified as stroke (n = 46; 21.1%), ischaemic heart disease/cardiovascular system (n = 44; 20.2%) and pneumonia (n = 31; 14.2%). One-year mortality multivariate models showed that the DBI categories low (n = 260; hazard ratio [HR] 1.13; 95% CI 0.82, 1.57) and high (n= 153; HR 1.19; 95% CI 0.82, 1.74) were not associated with mortality. This lack of a significant association remained after dichotomization into the anticholinergic and sedative components of the DBI.
Conclusions: We found that with high exposure to anticholinergic and sedative medications, there was no significant association between increasing DBI score and all-cause mortality in old individuals living in RACFs. Further research into the adverse effects of medication use on the mortality of institutionalized older individuals is needed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wancata J, Benda N, Meise U, et al. Psychotropic drug intake in residents newly admitted to nursing homes. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1997 Nov; 134(2): 115–20
Hosia-Randell H, Pitkala K. Use of psychotropic drugs in elderly nursing home residents with and without dementia in Helsinki, Finland. Drugs Aging 2005; 22(9): 793–800
Kumpula EK, Bell JS, Soini H, et al. Anticholinergic drug use and mortality among residents of long-term care facilities: a prospective cohort study. J Clin Pharmacol 2010 May; 51(2): 256–63
Somers M, Rose E, Simmonds D, et al. Quality use of medicines in residential aged care. Aust Fam Physician 2010 Jun; 39(6): 413–6
Gnjidic D, Cumming RG, Le Couteur DG, et al. Drug Burden Index and physical function in older Australian men. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2009 Jul; 68(1): 97–105
Hilmer SN, Mager DE, Simonsick EM, et al. A drug burden index to define the functional burden of medications in older people. Arch Intern Med 2007 Apr 23; 167(8): 781–7
Hilmer SN, Mager DE, Simonsick EM, et al. Drug burden index score and functional decline in older people. Am J Med 2009 Dec; 122(12): 1142–9 e1-2
Cumming RG, Le Couteur DG. Benzodiazepines and risk of hip fractures in older people: a review of the evidence. CNS Drugs 2003; 17(11): 825–37
Hartikainen S, Lonnroos E, Louhivuori K. Medication as a risk factor for falls: critical systematic review. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2007 Oct; 62(10): 1172–81
Hartikainen S, Rahkonen T, Kautiainen H, et al. The use of psychotropics and survival in demented elderly individuals. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 2005 Jul; 20(4): 227–31
Vinkers DJ, Gussekloo J, van der Mast RC, et al. Benzodiazepine use and risk of mortality in individuals aged 85 years or older. JAMA 2003 Dec 10; 290(22): 2942–3
Taipale HT, Bell JS, Soini H, et al. Sedative load and mortality among residents of long-term care facilities: a prospective cohort study. Drugs Aging 2009; 26(10): 871–81
Aizenberg D, Sigler M, Weizman A, et al. Anticholinergic burden and the risk of falls among elderly psychiatric inpatients: a 4-year case-control study. Int Psychogeriatr 2002 Sep; 14(3): 307–10
Cao YJ, Mager DE, Simonsick EM, et al. Physical and cognitive performance and burden of anticholinergics, sedatives, and ACE inhibitors in older women. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2008 Mar; 83(3): 422–9
Kales HC, Valenstein M, Kim HM, et al. Mortality risk in patients with dementia treated with antipsychotics versus other psychiatric medications. Am J Psychiat 2007 Oct; 164(10): 1568–76; quiz 623
Wilson NM, Hilmer SN, March LM, et al. Associations between drug burden index and physical function in older people in residential aged care facilities. Age Ageing 2010 Jul; 39(4): 503–7
Wilson NM, Hilmer SN, March LM, et al. Associations between Drug Burden Index and falls in older people in residential aged care. J Am Geriatr Soc 2011; 59: 875–80
March L, Seibel M, Simpson J, et al. A randomised controlled trial of increased sunlight exposure to reduce vitamin D deficiency and falls risk in the elderly [abstract]. J Bone Miner Res 2009; 24Suppl. 1 [online]. Available from URL: http://www.asbmr.org/Meetings/AnnualMeeting/AbstractDetail.aspx?aid=d1b61437-d9b3-4cc6-8a55-4ded0f5ed5df [Accessed 2010 May 23]
Chen JS, March LM, Schwarz J, et al. A multivariate regression model predicted falls in residents living in intermediate hostel care. J Clin Epidemiol 2005; 58(5): 503–8
The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. Oslo: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health [online]. Available from URL: http://www.whocc.no/ [Accessed 2010 Jul 17]
Monthly index of medical specialties [database]. St Leonards (NSW): MIMS Australia & UBM Medica Pty Ltd [online]. Available from URL: http://www.mims.com.au [Accessed 2008 Jul 17]
Charlson ME, Pompei P, Ales KL, et al. A new method of classifying prognostic comorbidity in longitudinal studies: development and validation. J Chronic Dis 1987; 40(5): 373–83
Schneeweiss S, Seeger JD, Maclure M, et al. Performance of comorbidity scores to control for confounding in epidemiologic studies using claims data. Am J Epidemiol 2001 Nov 1; 154(9): 854–64
Hanlon JT, Schmader KE, Ruby CM, et al. Suboptimal prescribing in older inpatients and outpatients. J Am Geriatr Soc 2001 Feb; 49(2): 200–9
Lord SR, March LM, Cameron ID, et al. Differing risk factors for falls in nursing home and intermediate-care residents who can and cannot stand unaided. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003 Nov; 51(11): 1645–50
Miller MD, Thomas JM, Cameron ID, et al. BMI: a simple, rapid and clinically meaningful index of under-nutrition in the oldest old? Br J Nutr 2009 May; 101(9): 1300–5
Chumlea WC, Guo S. Equations for predicting stature in white and black elderly individuals. J Gerontol 1992 Nov; 47(6): M197–203
Lipski PS. Australian Nutrition Screening Initiative. Australas J Ageing 1996; 15(1): 14–7
Sambrook PN, Chen CJ, March L, et al. High bone turnover is an independent predictor of mortality in the frail elderly. J Bone Miner Res 2006 Apr; 21(4): 549–55
Wilson NM, Hilmer SN, March LM, et al. Physical functioning measures and risk of falling in older people living in residential aged care facilities. Ther Adv Musculoskel Dis 2011; 3(1): 9–15
AIHW national mortality database. Canberra (ACT): Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, 2006
Schneider LS, Dagerman KS, Insel P. Risk of death with atypical antipsychotic drug treatment for dementia: meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. JAMA 2005 Oct 19; 294(15): 1934–43
Lord SR. Predictors of nursing home placement and mortality of residents in intermediate care. Age Ageing 1994 Nov; 23(6): 499–504
Garfinkel D, Zur-Gil S, Ben-Israel J. The war against polypharmacy: a new cost-effective geriatric-palliative approach for improving drug therapy in disabled elderly people. Isr Med Assoc J 2007 Jun; 9(6): 430–4
Ribbe MW, Ljunggren G, Steel K, et al. Nursing homes in 10 nations: a comparison between countries and settings. Age Ageing 1997 Sep; 26Suppl. 2: 3–12
Lau HS, de Boer A, Beuning KS, et al. Validation of pharmacy records in drug exposure assessment. J Clin Epidemiol 1997 May; 50(5): 619–25
Carnahan RM, Lund BC, Perry PJ, et al. The relationship of an anticholinergic rating scale with serum anticholinergic activity in elderly nursing home residents. Psychopharmacol Bull 2002 Autumn; 36(4): 14–9
Currow DC, Stevenson JP, Abernethy AP, et al. Prescribing in palliative care as death approaches. J Am Geriatr Soc 2007 Apr; 55(4): 590–5
Chen L, Walker S, Tong S. The impact of the variation in death certification and coding practices on trends in mortality from ischaemic heart disease. Aust Health Rev 2002; 25(4): 189–97
Sanchez Riera L, Wilson NM, Sambrook PN, et al. Trends in calcium and vitamin D usage among older people in nursing care facilities in Australia: still falling short of the guidelines. Int J Rheum Dis 2008; 11(4): 430–4
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council project (grant number 402639). S. Hilmer holds an international patent for the Drug Burden Index with D.R. Abernethy and D. Major. The other authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilson, N.M., Hilmer, S.N., March, L.M. et al. Associations between Drug Burden Index and Mortality in Older People in Residential Aged Care Facilities. Drugs Aging 29, 157–165 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2165/11598570-000000000-00000
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/11598570-000000000-00000