A Review on Polypharmacy in Geriatric Patient

The problem of polypharmacy in the health sector has become significant especially among the older population due to the development of chronic diseases, multimorbidity, and physiological changes associated with aging. The need for polypharmacy as part of the disease management may cause several clinical problems including drug-drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, non-adherence to medications, cognitive decline, fall, hospitalization, and increased cost of healthcare delivery. The physiologic changes related to aging make older patients prone to experiencing adverse drug reactions. There are a number of causes of polypharmacy burden including prescription from several clinicians, self-prescription, guidelines-based prescription, and fragmentation in healthcare system. It is important to conduct assessment using tools such as Beers Criteria, STOPP/START Criteria, and drug reviews for optimal use of drugs. Management methods including deprescription, interprofessional team work, and inclusion of clinical pharmacists in the process will ensure medication safety and positive clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of life of older people.