2021 Alzheimer's Association Research Grant (AARG)

Developing Medication Safety Measures in Older Adults with Dementia

How can medication safety measures be developed in older adults with dementia?
 

Minghui Li, Ph.D.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Memphis, TN - United States

Background

It’s important for everyone who takes a medication to understand its purpose and proper usage. Additional measures may be needed to ensure individuals living with dementia take medications as directed. A plan to safely manage prescription and over-the-counter medications is critical to avoid medication-related problems. However, medication safety measures are not included in Medicare quality initiatives and medication safety is not measured by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. As a result, prescription drug plans may not be geared towards improving the quality of medication safety in older adults living with dementia. 

Studies show that in clinical practice, challenges with medication safety in older adults living with dementia can be prevented through the withdrawal of medications that are not appropriate for the individual (called deprescription) through supervision by a health care professional.
 

Research Plan

Dr. Minghui Li and colleagues will leverage datasets from Medicare administrative, claims and area health resource file. Using this information, the researchers will test the performance of different medication safety measures in older adults with dementia. Using advanced statistical techniques, the researchers will compare health and economic outcomes between individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia who have been deprescribed inappropriate medication and in those individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia who have not been deprescribed. 

Finally, Dr. Li’s team will identify appropriate and important medication safety measures for individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia to be included in the quality initiatives of Medicare medication safety measures.
 

Impact

The results may help identify health and economic outcomes associated with removal of inappropriate medications in older adults living with dementia. If successful, the study findings may be useful in developing appropriate and important medication safety measures for older adults with dementia.