{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T10:31:39Z","timestamp":1786444299616,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Geriatrics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Medication safety is a critical concern in older adults due to age-related vulnerability, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. Pro Re Nata (PRN, \u201cas needed\u201d) prescribing is common in geriatric care but may be interpreted inconsistently across healthcare professionals, potentially increasing the risk of medication errors. This study aimed to evaluate PRN prescribing patterns in hospitalized older adults and assess interprofessional perceptions of the clarity and appropriateness of PRN prescribing for conditions. Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-day observational study in a French geriatric university hospital, including all patients aged \u226565 years with at least one medication prescription. PRN prescriptions were extracted from electronic medical records and independently assessed by a pharmacist, nurse, and physician for clarity and appropriateness. Descriptive statistics summarized PRN use, chi-square tests assessed interprofessional differences, and multivariate logistic regression identified predictors of appropriate PRN wording. Results: Among 316 patients, 1035 PRN prescriptions were analyzed, representing 24.5% of all medication entries. Only 51.3% (n = 531) were deemed appropriate by all evaluators. Significant differences in interpretation were observed across professional groups (p &lt; 0.001 for most pairwise comparisons). PRN prescriptions were most frequent in long-term care units and primarily involved gastrointestinal agents, analgesics, and psychotropic medications. Multivariate analysis showed that hospitalization in long-term care (OR = 4.17; 95% CI 2.48\u20137.03) or rehabilitation units (OR = 2.07; 95% CI 1.22\u20133.53) with a higher number of prescriptions administered under a therapeutic protocol PRN (OR = 2.27; 95% CI 1.39\u20133.63) were independently associated with appropriate wording, while a higher total number of PRN prescriptions reduced appropriateness (OR = 0.87; 95% CI 0.82\u20130.94). Conclusions: PRN prescribing is frequent in hospitalized older adults and often involves high-risk or potentially inappropriate medications. Substantial interprofessional variability in the interpretation of PRN medication wording requires appropriate, standardized, and clinical PRN guidelines to improve medication safety and reduce potential adverse events in geriatric practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/geriatrics11040103","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T09:11:16Z","timestamp":1786439476000},"page":"103","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Lost in Translation: Interprofessional Variability in Understanding Pro Re Nata (PRN) Prescribing in Geriatric Practice\u2014A Prospective Observational Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Pauline","family":"Ripoche","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de Pharmacie, H\u00f4pitaux Sainte-P\u00e9rine\u2014Raymond Poincar\u00e9, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Rodier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de Pharmacie, H\u00f4pitaux Sainte-P\u00e9rine\u2014Raymond Poincar\u00e9, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris-Saclay, 91100 Orsay, France"},{"name":"Centre de Recherche en \u00c9pid\u00e9miologie et Sant\u00e9 des Populations (CESP), Equipe Epid\u00e9miologie Clinique et Pharmaco-\u00c9pid\u00e9miologie, Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, INSERM U1018, 94800 Villejuif, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6271-6134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marine","family":"Grang\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de M\u00e9decine des A\u00een\u00e9s, H\u00f4pital Sainte-P\u00e9rine, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dany","family":"Vythilingum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de M\u00e9decine des A\u00een\u00e9s, H\u00f4pital Sainte-P\u00e9rine, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zohra","family":"Mekerta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de M\u00e9decine des A\u00een\u00e9s, H\u00f4pital Sainte-P\u00e9rine, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aude","family":"Tarr\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de Pharmacie, H\u00f4pitaux Sainte-P\u00e9rine\u2014Raymond Poincar\u00e9, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5744-4516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patrick","family":"Hindlet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de Pharmacie, H\u00f4pitaux Sainte-P\u00e9rine\u2014Raymond Poincar\u00e9, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris-Saclay, 91100 Orsay, France"},{"name":"Centre de Recherche en \u00c9pid\u00e9miologie et Sant\u00e9 des Populations (CESP), Equipe Epid\u00e9miologie Clinique et Pharmaco-\u00c9pid\u00e9miologie, Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, INSERM U1018, 94800 Villejuif, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laurent","family":"Lechowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de M\u00e9decine des A\u00een\u00e9s, H\u00f4pital Sainte-P\u00e9rine, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3760-7178","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hugues","family":"Michelon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service de Pharmacie, H\u00f4pitaux Sainte-P\u00e9rine\u2014Raymond Poincar\u00e9, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, 75016 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"DREES (2006). \u00c9tude Nationale sur les \u00c9v\u00e8nements Ind\u00e9sirables Graves Li\u00e9s aux Soins (ENEIS 1), Direction de la Recherche, des \u00c9tudes, de l\u2019\u00c9valuation et des Statistiques DREES. 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Policy"}],"container-title":["Geriatrics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3417\/11\/4\/103\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T09:46:42Z","timestamp":1786441602000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3417\/11\/4\/103"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["geriatrics11040103"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/geriatrics11040103","relation":{},"ISSN":["2308-3417"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2308-3417","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]}}}