Appropriate Prescription of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Geriatric Patients—A Systematic Review

The elderly population is growing worldwide. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly prescribed, but their adverse events can pose significant risks. Different NSAID molecules can exhibit varying risk profiles. This study aims to evaluate the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and renal safety profiles of ibuprofen, naproxen, acemetacin, diclofenac, celecoxib, and etoricoxib in elderly patients. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed and Cochrane Library. For the selection of articles, we used Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms “aged” sequentially and together with “ibuprofen”, “diclofenac”, “naproxen”, “acemetacin”, “celecoxib”, and “etoricoxib”. To assess the quality and interest of the articles, four independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts to identify potentially eligible studies. Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) was used to rate the quality of individual studies and to establish recommendation strengths (RS). From 2086 articles identified, 39 studies met the inclusion criteria. Twenty studies analyzed cardiovascular safety, fourteen gastrointestinal safety, and four renal safety. When CV risk is the main concern celecoxib or naproxen are a good first choice (RS B). In high GI risk addition of PPI to naproxen or celecoxib use should be recommended (RS A). When renal function is on focus, celecoxib remains as first line of therapy (RS A). Diclofenac in the geriatric population should be avoided (RS B). Celecoxib is a good choice for elderly patients for whom it is difficult to direct pain treatment based on a single known risk factor (RS B).