Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) may be at a high risk of using potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), according to research published in the Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice. Factors associated with a higher risk of PIM use, such as polypharmacy, were also identified by the study’s authors.
PIMs are a risk that clinicians should not ignore among patients with MM. For this study, researchers evaluated the rate of PIM use among patients with MM in a population in Brazil. The authors relied on 2015 American Geriatrics Society/Beers Criteria when determining whether a medication is a PIM.
Overall, data from 153 patients with MM were included. In this cohort, 54.2% of patients were female, 52.3% of patients had completed at least a high school education, and 63.4% of patients were taking at least 5 concurrent medications — the criterion for polypharmacy.
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Analysis showed that 54% of patients in the cohort were using PIMs, among which proton pump inhibitors (46%) and benzodiazepines (8%) were the most frequently noted drug classes.
Further multivariate analysis suggested that higher schooling levels and polypharmacy were independent predictors of using PIMs.
“The study was conducted in an oncology outpatient clinic, and records on the conditions of chronic diseases were scarce, besides the lack of data on the functionality of the elderly,” the authors noted in their report. “The frequency of use of PIMs may have also been underestimated due to memory bias.”
Reference
Machado TRL, de Pádua CAM, de Miranda Drummond PL, et al. Factors associated with potentially inappropriate medications in elderly with multiple myeloma. J Oncol Pharm Pract. Published online August 1, 2023. doi:10.1177/10781552231190009
