Prescribing for patients aged 65 years and over in New Zealand general practice.
OBJECTIVE
To describe patterns of prescribing in general practice for New Zealanders aged 65 years and over.


METHODS
The computerised records of 139 359 consulting patients from 31 general practices from around New Zealand were examined. A subset of 17 497 consulting patients aged 65 years and over was selected and their prescribed medications examined. Utilisation was described in terms of demographic characteristics and health card eligibility.


RESULTS
84.6% of all consulting patients received one or more prescriptions during the study period. Patients were prescribed a mean of 19.7 medication items per annum. Females were prescribed to significantly more times than males for patients aged 79 and under. Community services card (CSC) holders were prescribed to more frequently than patients without a CSC in all age groups. 29.5% of all medication items were from the cardiovascular system Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) grouping.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a high level of exposure to medication in populations of older people. This is a reflection of older persons' morbidity and also indicates an urgent need to examine the data further for potential drug interactions and side effects.
Martin
Isobel
I
Department of General Practice, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. imartin@gp.otago.ac.nz
Hall
Jason
J
Gardner
Tim
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D019338:Polypharmacy; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors