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Anticholinergic Burden Assessed Using General Practice Electronic Records
Author(s) -
Ball Patrick A,
Morrissey Hana,
Pilotto Louis SJ
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/j.2055-2335.2013.tb00255.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anticholinergic , population , emergency medicine , demography , environmental health , sociology
Aim To determine the anticholinergic burden (ACB) of an Australian primary care population. Method A cross‐sectional study was undertaken of medication data from 11 general practices. Participants were active patients aged 65 years and over seen at least 3 times in the last 2 years (n = 4853). The ACB score was calculated based on a UK peer‐reviewed scoring system (Fox) and a modified scale (Fox‐plus) that included medications not present in the Fox scale. The main outcome measure was total ACB from prescribed medications. Results A Fox ACB score ≥ 4 is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality, 249 (9%) females, 130 (6%) males and 379 (8%) overall fell in this category. Applying the Fox‐plus ACB scale, 983 (36%) females, 630 (30%) males and 1613 (33%) overall fell in this category. Conclusion A large proportion of the elderly population may have cognitive impairment because of their therapy. Alternative medications or strategies are needed to maintain therapeutic benefits with a low ACB.