Journal
EXPERT OPINION ON DRUG SAFETY
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 57-65Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1517/14740338.2013.827660
Keywords
aged; drug utilization; polypharmacy; suboptimal drug use
Categories
Funding
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [R01 HS018721, K12 HS019461]
- National Institute of Aging [P30AG024827, T32 AG021885, K07AG033174, R01AG027017, R01 AG037451]
- AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY [K12HS019461, R01HS018721] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING [R01AG037451, R01AG027017, T32AG021885, K07AG033174, P30AG024827] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Introduction: Polypharmacy, defined as the use of multiple drugs or more than are medically necessary, is a growing concern for older adults. MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from January 1, 1986 to June 30, 2013) to identify relevant articles in people aged > 65 years. Areas covered: We present information about: i) prevalence of polypharmacy and unnecessary medication use; ii) negative consequences of polypharmacy; and iii) interventions to improve polypharmacy. Expert opinion: International research shows that polypharmacy is common in older adults with the highest number of drugs taken by those residing in nursing homes. Nearly 50% of older adults take one or more medications that are not medically necessary. Research has clearly established a strong relationship between polypharmacy and negative clinical consequences. Moreover, well-designed interprofessional (often including clinical pharmacist) intervention studies that focus on enrolling high-risk older patients with polypharmacy have shown that they can be effective in reducing aspects of unnecessary prescribing with mixed results on distal health outcomes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available