Inappropriate medication prescribing, polypharmacy, potential drug-drug interactions and medication regimen complexity in older adults attending three referral hospitals in Asmara, Eritrea: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 Socio-demographic and background characteristics of respondents and particular of prescribers (N = 430)

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Age (M, SD = 74.2, 6.9)	65 to 75 years	261	60.7
	76 to 85 years	145	33.7
	86 or above	24	5.6
Sex	Male	202	47.0
Sex	Female	228	53.0
Educational level	No formal education	199	46.3
	Primary	106	24.7
	Middle	61	14.2
	Secondary	37	8.6
	Higher	27	6.3
Occupation	Governmental	66	15.3
	Private services	20	4.7
	Self-employed	48	11.2
	Unemployed	86	20.0
	House wife	210	48.8
Chronic illness^c	Hypertension	267	62.1
	Diabetes	155	36.0
	Cardiac problems	33	7.6
	Asthma	9	2.1
	Others^a	42	12.5
	No chronic illness	91	21.2
Religion	Christian	384	89.3
Religion	Muslim	46	10.7
Ethnicity	Tigrigna	390	90.7
	Tigre	25	5.8
	Others^b	15	3.6
Prescriber qualification	GP	409	95.1
	Nurse practitioner	13	3.0
	GP intern	8	1.9

GP General Practitioner, M Mean, SD Standard Deviation
Others^a include rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, human immunodeficiency virus, benign prostate hyperplasia
Others^b include Saho, Bilen, Afar
^cTotal percent might exceed 100 due to multiple answers

ISSN: 1471-2318