OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use and its associated risk factors in community-dwelling older adults from five Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey, which was part of the Horizon 2020 EuroAgeism ESR7 project, was conducted between February 2019 and March 2020 in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, and Serbia. We enrolled older adults aged ≥65 years who visited community pharmacies to acquire medications. The prevalence of PIM use was determined by applying all 282 criteria from the EU(7)-PIM list. Risk and protective factors for PIM use were evaluated using multiple logistic regression. R software version 4.3.2 was used in statistical analysis. RESULTS: Most of the 2,155 participants were women (63.3%) and aged 65-74 years (64.8%). The overall PIM prevalence was 56.0% (95% confidence interval 53.8%-58.1%), ranging from 29.5% in Czechia to 70.0% in Croatia. The most commonly used PIMs were benzodiazepines (16.7% of all PIMs), followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (14.3%), and proton pump inhibitors taken for more than 8 weeks (14.1%). Multiple logistic regression revealed that residence, increasing comorbidity burden, and polypharmacy were significant risk factors associated with PIM use in older adults. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate a high prevalence of PIM use among older patients from CEE countries and considerable cross-country differences, underscoring the need to improve medication prescribing for older adults to improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes.

Potentially inappropriate medication use is widespread in Central and Eastern Europe.It is necessary to improve the prescribing process for older adults worldwide.

Ageing Neurosciences Head Neck and Orthopaedics Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS Rome Italy

Centre for Applied Pharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

City Pharmacies Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

Department of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy Ege University Izmir Turkey

Department of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy Marmara University Istanbul Turkey

Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czechia

Department of Geriatrics and Orthopaedic Sciences Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Rome Italy

Department of Pharmacy Ghent University Hospital Ghent Belgium

Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove Charles University Hradec Kralove Czechia

Department of Social Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Legislation Faculty of Pharmacy University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia

Department of Statistical Modelling Institute of Computer Science of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czechia

Pharmaceutical Care Unit Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Ghent University Ghent Belgium

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