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Table 2 Drug use in older people living in a nursing home versus those living at home

From: Drug use differs by care level. A cross-sectional comparison between older people living at home or in a nursing home in Oslo, Norway

Drug therapeutic group (ATC-3th level)a

Drug use prevalence (%)

Relative Risk (RR)

H (n = 48,944)

NH (n = 2313)

95% CI

p-value

Opioids

22.7

46.3

2.0 (2.0, 2.1)

<0.01

Paracetamol

18.2

72.1

4.0 (3.9, 4.1)

<0.01

Antiepileptic drugs

4.0

9.5

2.4 (2.1, 2.7)

<0.01

Dopaminergic drugs

1.5

3.9

2.7 (2.2, 3.4)

<0.01

Antipsychotics

4.0

17.2

4.3 (3.9, 4.8)

<0.01

Anxiolytics

16.2

48.4

3.0 (2.9, 3.1)

<0.01

Hypnotics/sedatives

28.6

49.2

1.7 (1.7, 1.8)

<0.01

Antidepressants

11.2

31.6

2.8 (2.7, 1.8)

<0.01

Antidementia drugs

2.0

11.4

5.7 (5.0, 6.5)

<0.01

Cardiac glycosides

3.2

5.8

1.8 (1.5, 2.2)

<0.01

Cardiac nitrates

7.5

15.4

2.1 (1.9, 2.3)

<0.01

Loop diuretics

14.0

31.7

2.3 (2.1, 2.4)

<0.01

Other diureticsb

6.6

2.9

0.4 (0.3, 0.6)

<0.01

Beta-blockers

29.1

24.8

0.9 (0.8, 0.9)

<0.01

Calcium channel blockers

19.6

9.0

0.5 (0.4, 0.5)

<0.01

Renin–angiotensin drugs

41.1

18.6

0.5 (0.4, 0.5)

<0.01

Statins

35.0

5.7

0.2 (0.1, 0.2)

<0.01

Antithrombotic agentsc

47.4

44.0

0.9 (0.9, 1.0)

<0.01

Inhalatorsd

17.8

18.3

1.0 (0.9, 1.1)

0.55

Corticosteroids, systemic

10.2

6.6

0.7 (0.6, 0.8)

<0.01

Antihistamines, systemic

11.6

8.2

0.7 (0.6, 0.8)

<0.01

Vitamin B12 and folic acid

6.5

13.6

2.1 (1.9, 2.4)

<0.01

Thyroid therapy

10.9

16.1

1.5 (1.4, 1.6)

<0.01

Peptic ulcer drugse

17.2

21.4

1.3 (1.2, 1.4)

<0.01

Antidiabeticsf

10.2

11.1

1.1 (1.0, 1.2)

0.15

Drugs for glaucoma

9.3

10.4

1.1 (1.0, 1.3)

0.08

Oestrogens

6.3

4.6

0.7 (0.6, 0.9)

<0.01

Benign prostate hypertrophy drugs

6.1

2.3

0.4 (0.3, 0.5)

<0.01

Osteoporosis drugs

6.5

2.1

0.3 (0.3, 0.4)

<0.01

NSAIDs

20.7

5.5

0.3 (0.2, 0.3)

<0.01

  1. H (home population), NH (nursing home population). RR (relative risk with 95% confidence interval and p-value and the population living at home as the reference group)
  2. aDrugs with prevalence rates ≥5% in at least one of the populations, except for dopaminergic drugs
  3. bThe vast majority were thiazides
  4. cMostly anti-platelet agents, such acetylsalicylic acid (36.2% vs. 31.2%) and warfarin (11.5% vs. 9.0%)
  5. dSteroid, adrenergic and anticholinergic inhalators
  6. eThe vast majority were proton pump inhibitors
  7. fOral antidiabetic drugs RR = 2.4(2.0, 2.9) and insulin RR = 0.7(0.6, 0.9)
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BMC Geriatrics

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