Potentially inappropriate medications use and its association with health-related quality of life among elderly cardiac patients

Background: Previous studies identified alarming use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in Pakistani population but its effect on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is still largely unknown. Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between PIMs use and HRQoL among elderly cardiac outpatients. Method: A descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was carried out from June 2018 to September 2018 in two outpatient departments of tertiary-care hospitals in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The population under study were patients aged ≥ 65 years with at least one cardiovascular condition taking at ≥ 1 prescribed medication. Patients with PIMs were identified by using Beers criteria. HRQoL was assessed using EuroQoL-5 dimension (EQ-5D) and EuroQoL-visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). The association of PIMs with HRQoL was analyzed using χ2 tests, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA tests. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine how HRQoL varied by PIMs use after adjusting for patient-level covariates. Results: Of 386 elderly cardiac patients, 260 (67.4%) patients were receiving at least one PIM. Mean EQ-5D scores were significantly lower among patients with PIMs (0.51) compared to patients without PIMs (0.65) (P < 0.001). In multiple linear regression analysis, increasing numbers of PIMs were significantly associated with lower EQ-5D scores [β = − 0.040 (− 0.075, − 0.005), P < 0.001] and VAS scores [β = − 1.686 (− 2.916, − 0.456), P < 0.05]. Conclusion: The present study concluded that exposure to PIM was significantly associated with lower HRQoL. This indicates that guidelines recommendations should be followed to improve patient’s quality of life.