• Mette Brekke, Sture Rognstad, Jørund Straand, Kari Furu, Svein Gjelstad, Trine Bjørner, and Ingvild Dalen.
• Section for General Practice, Department of General Practice and Community Health, University of Oslo, Norway. mette.brekke@medisin.uio.no
• Scand J Prim Health Care. 2008 Jan 1; 26 (2): 80-5.

ObjectiveTo assess Norwegian general practitioners' (GPs') level of potentially harmful drug prescribing for elderly patients.DesignPrescription data for 12 months were retrospectively retrieved from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD). Data were assessed in relation to 13 prescription quality indicators.SettingGeneral practice.SubjectsA total of 454 GPs attending continuous medical education (CME) groups in Southern Norway, 85,836 patients >or=70 years who received any prescription from the GPs during the study period.Main Outcome MeasuresNumber of prescriptions assessed in relation to pharmacological inappropriateness based on a list of 13 explicit prescription quality indicators.ResultsSome 18.4% of the patients (66% females with mean age 79.8 years, 34% males with mean age 78.7 years) received one or more inappropriate prescriptions from their GP. An NSAID in a potentially harmful combination with another drug (7%) and a long-acting benzodiazepine (4.6%) were the most frequent inappropriate prescriptions made. Doctor characteristics associated with more inappropriate prescribing practice were old age and working single-handed with many elderly patients.ConclusionThe study reveals areas where GPs' prescribing practice for elderly patients can be improved and which can be targeted in educational interventions.

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