Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adverse Health Events Related to Self-Medication Practices Among Elderly: A Systematic Review

  • Systematic Review
  • Published:
Drugs & Aging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Older adults often resort to self-medication to relieve symptoms of their current illnesses; however, the risks of this practice are multiplied in old age. In particular, this age group is more vulnerable to adverse drug events because of the physiological changes that occur due to senescence.

Objective

The aim of the study was to obtain an overview of the adverse health events related to self-medication among subjects aged 60 years and over through a systematic review of the literature.

Methods

A study of relevant articles was conducted among databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EBM Reviews–Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews). Eligibility criteria were established and applied by two investigators to include suitable studies. The results and outcomes of interest were detailed in a descriptive report.

Results

The electronic search identified 4096 references, and the full texts of 74 were reviewed, of which four were retained in the analysis: three had a cross-sectional design and one prospectively followed elderly subjects. The first study showed a 26.7% prevalence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among elders, the second study found a 75% prevalence of side effects, and, finally, a prospective study showed an ADR incidence of 4.5% among self-medicated elders. These studies showed that adverse health events related to self-medication are relatively frequently reported. They also highlighted that analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs are the most self-medicated products, while vitamins and dietary supplements also appear to be frequently self-administered, but by older individuals.

Conclusions

Studies on self-medication in the elderly and its adverse health effects are clearly lacking. There is a need to perform prospective studies on this topic to gain a clear understanding of the extent of this problem and to enhance the awareness of health professionals to better inform seniors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. World Health Organization. The role of the pharmacist in self-care and self-medication. 1998. http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/fr/d/Jwhozip32e/3.2.html. Accessed 15 Sept 2016.

  2. Schmiedl S, Rottenkolber M, Hasford J, et al. Self-medication with over-the-counter and prescribed drugs causing adverse-drug-reaction-related hospital admissions: results of a prospective, long-term multi-centre study. Drug Saf. 2014;37:225–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bennadi D. Self-medication: a current challenge. J Basic Clin Pharm. 2013;5:19–23.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Montastruc L, Bondon-Guitton E, Abadie D, et al. Pharmacovigilance, risks and adverse effects of self-medication. Therapie. 2016;71:257–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bennadi D. Self-medication: a current challenge. J Basic Clin Pharm. 2014;5:1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jafari F, Khatoni A, Rahmani E. Prevalence of self-medication among the elderly in Kermanshah-Iran. Glob J Health Sci. 2015;7:360–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Bayoumi I, Dolovich L, Hutchison B, et al. Medication-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations among older adults. Can Fam Physician. 2014;60:217–22.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Salvi F, Marchetti A, D’Angelo F, et al. Adverse drug events as a cause of hospitalization in older adults. Drug Saf. 2012;35:29–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Budnitz DS, Lovegrove MC, Shehab N, et al. Emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events in older Americans. N Engl J Med. 2011;365:2002–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Pretorius RW, Gataric G, Swedlund SK, et al. Reducing the risk of adverse drug events in older adults. Am Fam Physician. 2013;87:331–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Jerez-Roig J, Medeiros L, Silva V, et al. Prevalence of self-medication and associated factors in an elderly population: a systematic review. Drugs Aging. 2014;31:883–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. World Health Organization. Definition of an older or elderly person. 1984. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/. Accessed 15 Sept 2016.

  13. The Joanna Briggs Institute. Critical appraisal tools. 2016. http://joannabriggs.org/research/critical-appraisal-tools.html. Accessed 20 Jan 2017.

  14. Olivier P, Bertrand L, Tubery M, et al. Hospitalizations because of adverse drug reactions in elderly patients admitted through the emergency department. Drugs Aging. 2009;26:475–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Balbuena FR, Aranda AB, Figueras A. Self-medication in older urban Mexicans: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Drugs Aging. 2009;26:51–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Sproule BA, Busto UE, Buckle C, et al. The use of non-prescription sleep products in the elderly. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 1999;14:851–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Stoehr GP, Ganguli M, Seaberl EC, et al. Over-the counter medication use in an older rural community: the MoVIES project. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1997;45:158–65.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Asseray N, Ballereau F, Trombert-Paviot F, et al. Frequency and severity of adverse drug reactions due to self-medication: a cross-sectional multicentre survey in emergency departments. Drug Saf. 2013;36:1159–68.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Berreni A, Montastruc F, Bondon-Guitton E, et al. Adverse drug reactions to self-medication: a study in a pharmacovigilance database. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2015;29:517–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Hersh EV, Pinto A, Moore PA. Adverse drug interactions involving common prescription and over-the-counter analgesic agents. Clin Ther. 2007;29:2477–97.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Cazacu J, Mogosan C, Loghin F. Safety issues of current analgesics: an update. Clujul Med. 2015;88(128):36.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Wilcox CM, Cryer B, Triadafilopoulos G. Patterns of use and public perception of over-the-counter pain relievers: focus on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. J Rheumatol. 2005;32:2218–24.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Prybys K, Melville K, Hanna J, et al. Polypharmacy in the elderly: clinical challenges in emergency practice. Part 1: Overview, etiology, and drug interactions. Emerg Med Rep. 2002;23:145–53.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Kongkaew C, Noyce PR, Ashcroft DM. Hospital admissions associated with adverse drug reactions: a systematic review of prospective observational studies. Ann Pharmacother. 2008;42:1017–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Beijer HK, de Blaey CJ. Hospitalisations caused by adverse drug reactions (ADR): a meta-analysis of observational studies. Pharm World Sci. 2002;24:46–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Hazell L, Shakir SA. Under-reporting of adverse drug reactions: a systematic review. Drug Saf. 2006;29:385–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Field TS, Gurwitz JH, Harrold LR, et al. Strategies for detecting adverse drug events among older persons in the ambulatory setting. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2004;11:492–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Sultana J, Cutroneo P, Trifirò G. Clinical and economic burden of adverse drug reactions. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2013;4:S73–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Médéa Locquet, Germain Honvo, Véronique Rabenda, Jean-Yves Reginster & Olivier Bruyère

  2. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, CIRM (Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Thierry Van Hees

  3. Geriatric Department, CHU of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Jean Petermans

Authors
  1. Médéa Locquet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Germain Honvo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Véronique Rabenda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thierry Van Hees
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jean Petermans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jean-Yves Reginster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Olivier Bruyère
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Médéa Locquet.

Ethics declarations

Funding

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.

Conflict of interest

Médéa Locquet, Germain Honvo, Véronique Rabenda, Thierry Van Hees, Jean Petermans, Jean-Yves Reginster, and Olivier Bruyère declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this systematic review.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 12 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Locquet, M., Honvo, G., Rabenda, V. et al. Adverse Health Events Related to Self-Medication Practices Among Elderly: A Systematic Review. Drugs Aging 34, 359–365 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-017-0445-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-017-0445-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation