Polypharmacy in older adults with hypertension increases the risk of adverse events, highlighting the need for innovative management strategies like fixed-dose combinations and pharmacist integration.
Older adults are more likely to take more than two medications for medical conditions, and polypharmacy is associated with increased risk of adverse events (fall injury, hyperkalemia and hypokalemia, heart failure, and blood pressure exacerbation), polypharmacy mismanagement, drug-drug interaction, and increased costs. Knowledge of drugs that interact with known antihypertensive agents is paramount to avoiding or reducing adverse events, hospitalizations, and health care dollars. Innovative approaches such as use of a fixed-dose combination pill, ingestible sensor system, electronic reminder system, medical audits, and the integration of a pharmacist in the care of patients should be implemented to avoid polypharmacy mismanagement.
Mukete et al. (Mon,) studied this question.