polipharmacy

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the improvement in therapeutic adherence of an intervention based on telephone monitoring by the primary care pharmacist. DESIGN: Randomized open controlled trial. LOCATION: This study was carried out in 2021 by a multidisciplinary team working with health professionals of thirteen health centers belonging to four health districts in Community of Madrid, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: These were patients (60-74 years) with polipharmacy classified as non-adherent according to the Morisky-Green test...

BACKGROUND: Polipharmacy has been identified as a contributing factor to the high hospital readmission rates of heart failure (HF) patients. Nevertheless, there limited evidence on pharmacist-led intervention on the reduction of inappropriate medication use in patients. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the available evidence resulting from interventions, led by pharmacists (alone or as part of a professional team), aimed at reducing inappropriate medications in patients with heart failure...

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder. It may have serious consequences in asyntomatic patients with a mild disease. Therefore, an evaluation of unsual causes is of paramount importance. Polypharmacy is highly prevalent in older people and many drugs can cause hyponatremia as a collateral effect. In our retrospective analysis of geriatric medical records dated 2015 we found that 39 out of the 273 hospitalized patients had hyponatremia. Polipharmacy was highly prevalent, especially in hyponatremic patients...

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the antipsychotic use patterns of patients with schizophrenia and its correlations in their daily drug use patterns. METHODS: Patients with schizophrenia who have regular records at two different community counselling centres (CCS) were included in the study. Information about their medications and sociodemographic data was recorded through face-to-face interviews and supporting information about their drug use patterns was obtained from their relatives/caregivers/nurse...

The ageing of the population in western countries, the continuous increase of the prevalence of chronic diseases, the frequent coexistence of several morbid conditions (comorbidity) requires health professionals and Institutions to face difficult challenges, including increasing costs, need for more effective and sustainable therapies, and organizational issues. The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing aims at enabling European citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives while ageing...

BACKGROUND: Frailty can be defined as a progressive loss of reserve and adaptive capacity associated with an overall deterioration in health that can result in disability, loss of independence, hospitalisation, extensive use of healthcare resources, admission to long-term care and death. Nevertheless, despite widespread use of the term, there is no agreement on the definition of frailty or an instrument to identify it in a straightforward way. The purpose of the current study was to explore which factors are associated with frailty-related adverse outcomes in elderly individuals and to propose a suitable tool for identifying such individuals, particularly in primary care settings...

INTRODUCTION: One of the causes of preventable adverse drug events (ADES) in older patients constitutes inappropriate prescription of drugs (PIM). The PIM is where risks exceed the clinical benefit. Several instruments can be use to measure this problem, the most used are: a) Beers criteria; b) Screening tool to Older People Potentially inappropriate Prescription (STOPP); c) Screening tool to Alert Doctors to Right Appropriate indicated Treatments (START); d) The Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI)...

The 60% of tumors affected patients >65years of age and the future previsions are considering an amount of 70% after 2030. Elderly Patients presents multiple comorbidity, polipharmacy, and disability. Geriatric assessment helps physicians to take the best therapeutic decisions. Clinical conditions influence efficacy and tolerability of chemotherapy. Prophylactic use of G-CSF after chemotherapy lowers the rate and length of severe neutropenia , and decreases the episodes of febrile neutropenia. Anemia is a hematologic condition associated with ageing , but is frequently associated to concomitant chronic disease...

The 60% of tumors affected patients >65years of age and the future previsions are considering an amount of 70% after 2030. Elderly Patients presents multiple comorbidity, polipharmacy, and disability. Geriatric assessment helps physicians to take the best therapeutic decisions. Clinical conditions influence efficacy and tolerability of chemotherapy. Prophylactic use of G-CSF after chemotherapy lowers the rate and length of severe neutropenia , and decreases the episodes of febrile neutropenia. Anemia is a hematologic condition associated with ageing , but is frequently associated to concomitant chronic disease...

The objectives of study were to identify the prevalence and factors associated to the use of psychotropic drugs among elderly people in São Paulo city. It is a cross-sectional study. Data were used from the SABE survey (for Health, Well-being and Ageing). The sample was constituted of 1.115 elderly people, aging 65 and over, which were interviewed by standard method. In the data analysis, it was used univariate and multiple logistic regression, stepwise forward and level of significance of 5%. The prevalence of the use of psychotropic drugs of 12,2% and the factors associated were female gender (OR=3,04 IC95%= 1,76-5,23) and polypharmacy (OR=4,91 IC95%=2,74-8,79)...

Polipharmacy and medication non-adherence are problems faced frequently in the treatment of elderly patients. An exploratory cross-sectional study and quantitative approach were conducted to assess the frequency of treatment-adherence in elderly and how polipharmacy can affect adherence. Four hundred and sixty six elderly answered a questionnaire in Porto Alegre, RS in individual interviews. The adherence frequency found was 173 (37.1%) and was higher among those, who use less medication. These results indicate the need for implementing educational programs for the elderly in order to help them to follow their drug therapy...

This retrospective study seeks to check the prevalence of falls in older people from a long-term care institution for elderly people, in São Paulo, to describe the fallers and the events. We analyzed 121 medical records and 87 fall reports, between August 2006 and August 2007. There were 114 falls suffered by 45 ancians, a prevalence of 37,2%. The majority of fallers are women, average age 83,75 years. We found recurrent falls, various diagnoses and polipharmacy. The majority occurred in own height, in their bedroom, producing mainly hematomas...

The objectives of this study were: to characterize the polipharmacy in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and to verify the correlation between polipharmacy and number of medications for DM2 complications with depression indicators (Beck Depression inventory (BDI) and urinary cortisol (CORT) levels). A sample composed of 40 patients with DM2 from the Diabetes League of HCFM-USP was analyzed for depression indicators (CORT and BDI) in addition to evaluation for polipharmacy and number of DM2 complications...

Type 2 diabetes is a progressive syndrome that evolves toward complete insulin deficiency during the patient's life. A stepwise approach for its treatment should be tailored according to the natural course of the disease, including adding insulin when hypoglycemic oral agent failure occurs. Treatment with insulin alone should eventually be considered in a relevant number of cases. Experience has shown the protective effects of insulin on beta-cell survival and function, resulting in more stable metabolic control...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present paper is to review the various aspects of refractory schizophrenia regarding issues such as definitions, clinical aspects, psychobiological correlates, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options and predictors of treatment response. METHOD: Medline search as well as articles of the authors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Refractory schizophrenia affects at least one third of patients with schizophrenia and the best evidence shows that is monotherapy with clozapine remains the mainstay for the treatment of such condition...

INTRODUCTION: Due to the lack of scientific studies in the psychopharmacological treatment of psychosis, the references advise against the use of antipsychotic polypharmacy (AP). This study investigates the situation of this matter and its relationship with the introduction of atypical antipsychotics (AA) in our daily out-patient practice. METHODS: The study group included 160 patients, with ICD-10 diagnosis of non-affective psychosis and illness evolution of at least two years, whose ages ranged from 18 to 65 years, without mental retardation, who came to the out patient clinic at least once during the first semester of 2002 and, in order to make a comparison, at least one other time 9 to 12 months before...

Consumption of drugs is steadily increasing. The reasons for this could be the diminished threshold level of acceptable sufferings, increased expectations about health, the psychological effects of a medical prescription, publicity, consumer society attitude in respect to drugs and polipharmacy. Overexposure to drugs increases the risk of precipitating drug adverse reactions. This could be avoided in many cases by non-administration of an unnecessary drug. The frequency and consequences of drug adverse reactions are considerable, and WHO plays an import role in collecting data and facilitating the exchange of informations in that area...