Antiepileptic drugs patterns in elderly inpatients in a Brazilian tertiary center, Salvador, Brazil.

UNLABELLED: Epilepsy is very prevalent among elderly inpatients and treatment is far from ideal.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze prescribing patterns of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for hospitalized elderly with epilepsy, their relations with comorbidities and comedications.

METHOD: We assessed prescription regimen of elderly patients that were under AED use for treatment of epileptic seizures, during hospitalization. One hundred and nine patients were enrolled. AED regimen was categorized into two groups: Group 1 defined as appropriate (carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, valproic acid, gabapentin, clobazan and lamotrigine) and Group 2 as inappropriate (phenytoin and phenobarbital).

RESULTS

We found 73.4% of patients used inappropriate AEDs (p<0.001). Monotherapy was prescribed for 71.6% of patients. The most common comorbidity was hypertension. Potentially proconvulsant drugs as comedications were used for nearly half of patients.

CONCLUSION

Inappropriate AED therapy was commonly prescribed regimen for elderly inpatients. Some recommendations are discussed for a better care of elderly inpatients with epilepsy.