Abstract
BackgroundPolymedicated older patients are at greater risk of suffering from adverse events. For this reason, the detection of both inappropriate polypharmacy and polypharmacy-associated Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) are essential to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults and to reduce healthcare costs. This work aims to explore health professionals’ perceptions and opinions about polypharmacy and the handling of medicines by polymedicated older adults.MethodsThirteen focus groups with 94 health professionals (20 community pharmacists, 40 general practitioners and, 34 nurses) were conducted in primary healthcare centers of the center region of Portugal. Participants were asked to discuss their perceptions and beliefs concerning DRPs in polymedicated older adults. The sessions were audiotaped. After the transcription and coding of focus group sessions, a thematic analysis was done.ResultsThe following four main themes emerged from the 13 focus group sessions: poor compliance and polypharmacy- A perpetuated vicious cycle, organization of the healthcare system, interaction and communication between the health professionals, and strategies to prevent inappropriate polypharmacy.ConclusionsThe lack of both an efficient network of information and Interaction and communication between Health professionals makes the detection and/ or prevention of polypharmacy in older adults difficult. The implementation of new models to manage and/or prevent polypharmacy based on health professional perception and beliefs is essential to prevent DRPs and improve compliance among older adults.
Highlights
Polymedicated older patients are at greater risk of suffering from adverse events
Overall, 13 focus group (FG) were conducted with a total of 94 health professionals (HPs) enrolled (40 general practitioner (GP) 20 community pharmacist (CP) and 34 nurses)
Qualitative analysis resulted in four major themes: “poor compliance and polypharmacy- A perpetuated vicious cycle”, organization of the healthcare system, interaction and communication between health professionals, and strategies to prevent inappropriate polypharmacy (Table 2)
Summary
Polymedicated older patients are at greater risk of suffering from adverse events. For this reason, the detection of both inappropriate polypharmacy and polypharmacy-associated Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) are essential to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults and to reduce healthcare costs. The studies on Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) have focused on medication errors committed by HPs and attributed medication errors to mistakes in prescribing, preparation, or dispensing [8]. To our knowledge, this is the first focus group (FG) study that explores, in the same FG session, the beliefs and concerns of pharmacists, general practitioners, and nurses in primary healthcare centers, regarding polypharmacy in older adult patients, as well as their opinions on how to approach or prevent DRPs
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