Prescription risk for older people

Inappropriate medicine prescriptions are being blamed for significantly increasing the number of older people being admitted to hospital, according to two new studies.

For 2,600 older people examined over two years, unsuitable prescribing was associated with a 29% higher rate of adverse drug events.

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Health Research Board, in collaboration with researchers from Trinity College Dublin, linked inappropriate prescriptions to more visits to the GP and hospital emergency departments.