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Meaningful Measurement Matters: Defining Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use To Target Cognitive Outcomes, Ashley I. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Preventable and unintended consequences of medication use occur in more than 25% of ambulatory and hospitalized patients, and nearly half of long-term care patients. Unfortunately, many medications used to treat common health conditions in older adults (such as anxiety, behavioral disturbances, incontinence, insomnia, depression, and pain) have also been linked to cognitive impairment and decline. Recently, substantial efforts to investigate medications and medication classes that may be associated with cognitive impairment and decline in older adults have been undertaken. Unfortunately, studies have used a wide variety of different tools to define “potentially inappropriate medication” (PIM) use, and no published literature …