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Table 2 Characteristics of the elderly ambulatory patients and the comparison of patients who were prescribed any potentially inappropriate Kampo medications to be used with caution and those who were not

From: Prevalence of the potentially inappropriate Kampo medications to be used with caution among elderly patients taking any prescribed Kampo medications at a single centre in Japan: a retrospective cross-sectional study

  

Prescription of any potentially inappropriate Kampo medicationsa

p-valueb

Total

n = 80

Yes

n = 23

No

n = 57

Age, mean ± SD

76.7 ± 8.1

78.1 ± 8.3

76.2 ± 8.0

0.34

Female, n (%)

45 (56.2)

17 (73.9)

28 (49.1)

0.05

Charlson Comorbidity Index, mean ± SD

1.7 ± 1.8

1.8 ± 2.0

1.6 ± 1.8

0.62

Non-Kampo medicationsc

 Total number

  Median (IQR)

5.0 (3.0–7.3)

6.0 (4.0–8.5)

5.0 (3.0–7.0)

0.80

  Mean ± SD

5.6 ± 3.0

6.4 ± 3.1

5.3 ± 3.0

0.16

 Five or more medications, n (%)

46 (57.5)

14 (60.9)

32 (56.1)

0.80

Kampo medications

 Total number

  Median (IQR)

1.0 (1.0–1.0)

1.0 (1.0–2.0)

1.0 (1.0–1.0)

NA

  Mean ± SD

1.2 ± 0.4

1.3 ± 0.5

1.1 ± 0.3

0.05

 Two or more medications, n (%)

14 (17.5)

7 (30.4)

7 (12.3)

0.10

 Aconite composition, n (%)

8 (10.0)

5 (21.7)

3 (5.3)

0.04

 Glycyrrhizae radix composition, n (%)

57 (71.3)

19 (82.6)

38 (66.7)

0.18

 Ephedra composition, n (%)

10 (12.5)

3 (13.0)

7 (12.3)

1.00

 Scutellaria baicalensis composition, n (%)

6 (7.5)

2 (8.7)

4 (7.0)

1.00

 Gardenia composition, n (%)

1 (1.3)

1 (4.4)

0 (0.0)

0.28

Specific medications, n (%)

 Three or more antihypertensive drugs

14 (17.5)

7 (30.4)

7 (12.3)

0.10

 Loop diuretics

6 (7.5)

1 (4.4)

5 (8.8)

0.67

 Dysuria medications

9 (11.3)

4 (17.4)

5 (8.8)

0.43

 Interferon

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

NA

Uncontrolled hypertensiond, n (%)

20 (25.0)

10 (43.5)

10 (17.5)

0.02

Past medical history, n (%)

 Tachyarrhythmiae

3 (3.8)

0 (0.0)

3 (5.3)

0.55

 Dementia

13 (16.3)

4 (17.4)

9 (15.8)

1.00

 Ischaemic heart disease

7 (8.8)

1 (4.4)

6 (10.5)

0.45

 Chronic kidney disease

25 (31.3)

18 (78.3)

7 (12.3)

< 0.001

 Liver cirrhosis

4 (5.0)

2 (8.7)

2 (3.5)

0.57

 Hypertension

50 (62.5)

17 (73.9)

33 (57.9)

0.21

  1. aDefined based on the 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society guidelines
  2. bFisher’s exact tests or Student’s t-tests were used for comparisons between patients who were and were not prescribed any potentially inappropriate Kampo medications to be used with caution. The threshold for statistical significance was set at p < 0.05
  3. cExcluding Kampo medications
  4. dUncontrolled hypertension was defined as office systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg
  5. eTachyarrhythmia was defined as any arrhythmia that was controlled with antiarrhythmic medication