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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Prescribing medications to older drivers
— are physician resources adequate? | | Author(s) | Kathleen Tschantz Unroe, Bonnie Kantor, Virginia Richardson |
| Journal title | Journal of Aging & Pharmacotherapy, vol 13, no 1, 2003 |
| Publisher | Binghamton, NY, 2003 |
| Pages | pp 37-54 |
| Source | The Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA. http://www.HaworthPress.com |
| Keywords | Driving capability ; Drugs ; General practitioners ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | In the US, primary care doctors are asked by older patients, their family members and licensing authorities to make recommendations regarding the driving ability of such older patients. The implications are substantial, as safety, mobility and quality of life will be affected by such decisions. The questions raised regarding these obligations were examined by looking at drug entries in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR), Drug Facts and Comparisons and the USP-DI for several medications taken by patients who participated in an Older Drivers Evaluation Programme at the Ohio State University. Three classes of medications were chosen for examination: benzodiazepines, antidepressants and opioids. The content and variety of warnings were examined in each of these three reference manuals, the PDR being the most detailed. Facts and Comparisons and the USP-DI, because of their different format, discussed the specific warnings in the entry introducing the entire drug category. The language of the warnings differed between entries. With the notable exception of opioids in the USP DI, the entries for the drugs that were examined did mention driving. As expected, this research has raised concerns about the use of these categories of medications and driving. Warnings could be clearer and more consistent, to give the physician more guidance. Physicians have an ethical and legal duty of care to their patients that can only be fulfilled if they have the appropriate resources. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-040929215 A |
| Classmark | OPF: LLD: QT6: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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