Possible Polypharmacy Perils Await Older Adults

A. Mark Clarfield, MD,FRCPC, Chief of Geriatrics, Soroka Hospital, Beer-sheva, Israel; Sidonie Hecht Professor of Geriatrics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-sheva, Israel; Staff Geriatrician of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC.

Recent research has shown that close to 10% of the older population have at least one potentially inappropriate prescription, placing them at risk of acute hospitalization due to overdose or harmful drug interactions. The problem of polypharmacy in the aged is growing. Primary care physicians are obliged to take responsibility for coordinating the patient’s care and must be aware of various aspects of medication use such as cumulative drug exposure, chronic comorbidities, changing pharmacokinetics, and prescribing habits of consultants.

Key words: polypharmacy, older adult, adverse drug reaction, compliance.