1 in 5 Seniors Take High Risk Meds: More Common In South

Where you live may have more influence than you thought on how long you live. A recent report by researchers at Brown University has found that seniors living in the South Atlantic, East South Central and West South Central regions of the country — an area stretching from parts of Texas to South Carolina — had a 10 to 12 percentage point higher risk of receiving potentially harmful prescriptions than people in New England, who had the lowest chance. It’s true, and it’s disturbing. Albany, Ga., was found to have the highest rate of receipt of single high-risk prescriptions: 38.2 percent. Seniors in Alexandria, La., led the nation in receiving at least two high-risk prescriptions, with a rate of 13.5 percent. Mason City, Iowa (9.6%) and Worcester, Mass. (0.7%), had the best rate of single and multiple high-risk prescription use. A news release from Brown University reports that the study of more than 6 million seniors in Medicare Advantage plans in 2009 found that 21 percent received a prescription for at least one potentially harmful “high-risk medication.” Nearly 5 percent received at least two. In another demographic analysis, women across the country had a 10 percentage point greater likelihood of receiving a high-risk prescription. Generally the lower the socioeconomic status of a patient’s region, the more likely they were to receive a high-risk medication. Residents of the poorest areas had a 2.7 percentage point higher risk than the residents of the richest areas.