Silent Dangers in Elderly Pharmacotherapy: The Interplay of Polypharmacy, Multimorbidity, and Drug Interactions

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q3 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Journal of evaluation in clinical practice Pub Date : 2025-09-30 DOI:10.1111/jep.70283

N. N. Ngcobo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Pharmacological therapy in older persons is inherently complex due to the interplay of age-related physiological changes, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. These factors increase the vulnerability of elderly patients to drug interactions and adverse drug reactions.

Aim

This review aims to examine the mechanisms, causes, and consequences of drug interactions in older persons, and to highlight strategies to optimise pharmacological therapy in this population.

Methods

A narrative review of current literature was conducted, focusing on studies that address age-related pharmacological changes, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and drug–drug interactions in elderly patients.

Results

Findings from the literature indicate that drug interactions represent one of the most preventable medical errors in older persons' pharmacotherapy. The global scale of this problem highlights the need for increased awareness and collaborative approaches among healthcare providers.

Conclusion

Improving the quality of pharmacotherapy in older adults requires a concerted effort to prevent drug interactions, optimise prescribing practices, and ensure patient safety. Collaborative interventions can reduce adverse drug events and enhance therapeutic outcomes in elderly care.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

老年药物治疗中的隐性危险：多种药物、多种疾病和药物相互作用的相互作用。

背景：由于与年龄相关的生理变化、多病和多药的相互作用，老年人的药物治疗本质上是复杂的。这些因素增加了老年患者对药物相互作用和药物不良反应的脆弱性。目的：本综述旨在研究老年人药物相互作用的机制、原因和后果，并强调优化该人群药物治疗的策略。方法：对现有文献进行叙述性回顾，重点研究老年患者中与年龄相关的药理学变化、多病、多药和药物-药物相互作用。结果：从文献的发现表明，药物相互作用是老年人药物治疗中最可预防的医疗错误之一。这一问题的全球规模突出表明，需要提高卫生保健提供者之间的认识和协作方法。结论：提高老年人药物治疗质量需要共同努力，防止药物相互作用，优化处方做法，并确保患者安全。协同干预可以减少药物不良事件，提高老年人护理的治疗效果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of evaluation in clinical practice 医学-卫生保健

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

4.20%

发文量

143

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice aims to promote the evaluation and development of clinical practice across medicine, nursing and the allied health professions. All aspects of health services research and public health policy analysis and debate are of interest to the Journal whether studied from a population-based or individual patient-centred perspective. Of particular interest to the Journal are submissions on all aspects of clinical effectiveness and efficiency including evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines, clinical decision making, clinical services organisation, implementation and delivery, health economic evaluation, health process and outcome measurement and new or improved methods (conceptual and statistical) for systematic inquiry into clinical practice. Papers may take a classical quantitative or qualitative approach to investigation (or may utilise both techniques) or may take the form of learned essays, structured/systematic reviews and critiques.