Prescribing Patterns among Elderly Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh: A Cross-sectional Study
Abdullah Al Noman
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Amit Roy
Department of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Shaila Kabir
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Deepankar Sutradhar *
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: The health care issues among the aging population in Bangladesh have their characteristics that require specific approaches regarding the medications for elderly patients. It has been discovered that identifying the trends of the prescribers that patients receive the most prescriptions from is significant in enhancing elder patient care.
Objective: To identify the prescription practices for elderly patients in the tertiary care facility in Bangladesh and assess the adherence to standardized drug utilization using the World Health Organization core indicators.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done from April to August 2025 at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, with the sample comprising 110 in-patients aging 60 years or older. Demographic information, health status and medications were obtained by a self-completed, structured questionnaire. The 2012 Beers Criteria and World Health Organization (WHO) core drug-use indicators are used to assess prescription trends and find potentially inappropriate drugs (PIMs).
Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 7.52, significantly higher than World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Only 10.1% of drugs were prescribed by generic name. 17.27% of patients received at least one potentially inappropriate drug (PIM). Female patients received significantly more drugs than males (9.04 vs. 7.07 on average).
Conclusion: This study shows that a significant incidence of potentially inappropriate drugs (PIMs), low rates of generic prescribing, and broad multidrug combination therapy are characteristics of prescribing for older patients. These trends draw attention to important gaps in geriatric pharmacotherapy and emphasize the necessity of focused interventions to maximize older individuals' medication safety. The integration of electronic prescribing systems, ongoing geriatric pharmacology-focused professional development programs, more encouragement of the use of generic medications, and prompt medication reconciliation are all necessary to improve prescribing procedures. More broadly, our results encourage the creation of evidence-based geriatric prescribing guidelines and healthcare policies that lower medication-related hazards and enhance therapeutic results in older populations.
Keywords: Elderly, prescribing pattern, beers criteria, polypharmacy