Mitigating High Risk Medication Use in Older Adults in Costa Rica and the United States: A Comparative Approach Leveraging Mixed-Methods Evidence
Principal Investigators
Dr. Danya Qato, Associate Professor, UMB School of Pharmacy
Dr. Sofia Segura, Professor, UCR School of Medicine
The project consists of two research aims. The first aim is to take advantage of already available survey data to quantify the burden of high-risk medication use and polypharmacy in older adults in Costa Rica. We intend to build an analytic file for analysis using the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES, or "Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable"). CRELES is a set of nationally representative longitudinal surveys of health. Although the data have been used widely to study population health in Costa Rica, they have yet to be leveraged to examine potentially inappropriate high-risk medication use in older adults. The second aim is to understand the determinants and lived impact of high-risk medication use and polypharmacy in nursing homes in Costa Rica by engaging in focus group discussions with personnel responsible for medication management in nursing homes in the capital city, given their pivotal and influential role in the process.