Influence of Off-Label Uses to Adverse Drug Reactions in Aged Patients

OBJECTIVE To discuss the influence of off-label uses to ADR(adverse drug reactions) in aged patients. METHODS Retrospective examine the drugs and ADRs of aged patients who were greater than or equal to the age of 80 in elcectronic medical records in six months. RESULTS A total of 108 patients were included in the study and 1 084 drug prescriptions were given to them(median 10.04 prescriptions per patient). In 122 cases(11.25% of all prescriptions) drugs were used in an off-label manner. A total of 19 ADR were observed in 18 patients(16.7%). Patients receiving at least one off-label use during hospitalization(n=65) experienced an ADR significantly more frequently(n=17 patients) than patients receiving only licensed drugs(n=43 vs 1 patient). ADRs were associated with 7(0.73%) of the 962 licensed drug prescriptions and with 12(9.8%) of the 122 off-label use prescriptions. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that the incidence of ADR caused by off-label use is more frequently than patients receiving only licensed drugs in aged patients.