Knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical interns and postgraduate residents on American Geriatric Society updated Beers criteria

BACKGROUND: Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prevalence in older adults is increasing day by day due to lack of knowledge among medical students and professionals. OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge of medical students toward American Geriatric Society (AGS) Beers criteria for PIM prescribing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed a self-administered questionnaire which was validated and designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical interns and postgraduate residents on Beers criteria for PIMs in older adults. The study was conducted in Faridkot region of Punjab in 2019. This study will utilize a purposive sampling strategy and a convenience sampling of up to 183 participants. Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare different issues as appropriate. P values of < 0.05 were considered significant.RESULTS: Out of 183 questionnaires distributed, only 155 participants (response rate 84.6%) had filled the survey and were included in the study. 61.3% (n = 95) of the respondents were males. The mean knowledge score of 155 participants was (5.16 & PLUSMN; 1.56), where the highest score was 9 and the lowest score was 2 out of 10. 15.5% (n = 24) of the participant strongly agreed that Beers criteria use is necessary in clinical setting and would be very helpful. While 22.5% (n = 35) of the participants strongly agreed that PIMs cause adverse drug event (ADE) and drug-related problems (DRPs) in older adults. Age of the participant had a significant effect on the knowledge score (p = 0.009), and participant aged between 31 and 40 years had significantly higher knowledge scores compared with participants falls under 20-30 years. CONCLUSION: Medical students and postgraduate residents had average knowledge of PIMs and are unaware of the standard guidelines in older adults such as the Beers criteria. Lack of formal education or training about Beers guidelines was the main reason responsible for average knowledge among participants.