A newly released survey shows that about 4 percent of older adults in the United States combine over-the-counter medications with prescription drugs in ways that put them at risk for potentially dangerous interactions. In addition, a recent report estimates that adults over 65 account for more than 175,000 emergency department visits for adverse drug reactions each year. Almost 30 percent of seniors are taking at least five prescription medications and many combine prescription and nonprescription drugs.

 

The drug-to-drug interactions extend beyond prescription drugs, with nearly half involving the use of over-the-counter medications or dietary supplements, and that's happening despite the limited availability of drug safety information for nonprescription medications. It would look like many of the seniors haven't found out that, despite the use of medications is often beneficial, there are often risks associated with their use.

 

The authors of the survey recommend seniors to consult with their physician of pharmacist before self-medicating. It is very important to do this, and that's because as people get older, they are more vulnerable to the negative effects of medications. This report is published in the December 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In order to conduct the study, the researchers used survey data collected on more than 3,000 adults aged 57 to 85. They looked for all medications, both over-the-counter and prescription, used between June 2005 and March 2006.

 

The results are truly disturbing, as 91 percent of US adults, about 50.5 million people, used at least one medication regularly, while prescription medicines were used by 81 percent of adults. Most medications were used by those 75 to 85 years old. Furthermore, almost half of the older adults used at least one over-the-counter medication or dietary supplement, and more women than men used prescription medication and dietary supplements.

 

The same report also shows that more than 50 percent of those surveyed used five or more prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications or dietary supplements. Among those taking prescription medications, 29 percent used more than five drugs and drug use increased with age among both men and women. As for the seniors that combined drugs, 4 percent of them were in danger of having an adverse drug reaction.

 

The most common adverse interactions occurred with blood thinners such as warfarin and antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin. However, it looks like there has been a growth in the number of medications and an increased effort in marketing them, so people have started to seek out doctors who will prescribe them. Fortunately, the team said that they found no instances of people taking absolutely forbidden drug combinations, but the finding of widespread use of drugs that could cause major drug reactions was really worrisome.

 

As a final advice, the researchers said that doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals should ask about all of the medications their patients are taking.