title: How Drug Use by French Elderly Patients Has Changed During the Last Decade.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In France the most recent data on drug use by the elderly living at home were published in 2000. Since then the available drugs and their use have changed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We compared data collected in 2011 with the 2000 data to evaluate how drug use has changed in France.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study analysed retrospectively the 2011 data collected prospectively in France from a sample of 600,000 people representative (1/97th) of the French population. All prescribed drugs reimbursed by the French national health insurance were recorded. Due to the reimbursement procedure the unit of analysis was the trimester. The drugs were coded using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 580,989 patients were analysed (133,411 (23.0 %) aged ≥60 years, 32,314 (5.6 %) ≥80 years). The percentage of patients who used medication increased from 55.9 % for patients in their fourth decade to 88.6 % for patients in their eighth decade, remained stable till 90 years of age and decreased to 26.3 % in centenarians. The median number of drugs prescribed was five (IQR: 3-8) in those aged under 80 years and ten (IQR: 7-14) in those aged over 80 years. Cardiovascular drugs were the most used, by 70.9, 78.1, and 69.6 % of patients aged 70-79, 80-89, and 90-99 years, respectively. Analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and antibiotics were prescribed in almost half of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Polypharmacy is common among the elderly in France. Although this may be explained by the multiple co-morbidities, our results suggest an overuse of drugs for which the risk-benefit ratio is unknown in these age ranges. Consequently, numerous elderly patients are exposed to iatrogenic risks without the certainty of therapeutic benefits.
authors.affiliation: Service Pharmacie, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Huon
authors.affiliation: Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital European Georges-Pompidou, URC, Paris, France ; INSERM, Centre d'Investigation Épidémiologique 4, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lenain
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France ; Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 20 rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: LeGuen
authors.affiliation: Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital European Georges-Pompidou, URC, Paris, France ; Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chatellier
authors.affiliation: Service Pharmacie, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France ; INSERM UMR 872 Equipe 22, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sabatier
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France ; Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 20 rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saint-Jean