Detecting Suspected Prescribing Cascades by Prescription Sequence Symmetry Analysis of Nationwide Real-World Data

A prescription cascade is a subsequent event that occurs when an adverse drug event is misinterpreted as a new medical condition, resulting in the prescription of a potentially unnecessary medication to treat this new condition. This study was designed to test the hypothesis of whether prescribing cascades exist and their magnitude among older individuals by using prescription sequence symmetry analysis (PSSA).