Are Older Patients Receiving Gastroprotective Co-Therapy with NSAIDs?

Treatment guidelines recommend that older patients (defined variably using different age cutoffs between 60 and 75) who use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) receive gastroprotective co-therapy (NEJM JW Gastroenterol Dec 13 2005). However, few studies have focused on older patients, and many have excluded the very elderly.

To address this issue, investigators performed a systematic review of observational studies that focused on NSAID and gastroprotective agent use in patients aged ≥65. Twenty-three studies were eligible for inclusion. In 19 studies with data available on co-prescriptions, the median rate of co-therapy with gastroprotective agents in patients aged ≥65 was 24% (range, 10%–69%). All eight studies examining efficacy…