Nursing: polypharmacy and medication management in older adults

Abstract

Polypharmacy is a common clinical issue that affects half of all older adults living in the United States, and it is associated with adverse drug events (ADEs), poor outcomes, unplanned healthcare utilization, and increased healthcare costs. Older adults have a high risk of both polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use given normal changes of aging that influence pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, the presence of multiple medical conditions, and complex treatment regimens used to treat them. Nurses play a key role in reducing polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use in older adults through identification of adverse drug events, promoting the use of nonpharmacological interventions in place of medications, and providing essential patient education to older adults about medications and their side effects.