Less can be more-Examples on medication in older and geriatric patients from current studies

Abstract

Polypharmacy, i.e. the prescription of five or more different drugs for medicinal treatment, is atypical problem in older and geriatric patients. Polypharmacy predisposes to different negative health sequelae, such as undesired side effects, drug interactions, potentially inappropriate medication, reduced functional abilities, increased hospitalization and increased mortality. Various consensus groups and specialist societies have developed recommendations on how to handle polypharmacy in geriatric patients. Although concepts to reduce the number of drugs are considered necessary, in many areas there is a lack of evidence on how to limit polypharmacy in geriatric patients and to reduce and discontinue medication. This article presents examples of recent studies dealing with potentially inappropriate medication, vitaminD substitution and antipsychotic drugs, which show how to critically appraise a prescribed medication, to critically check the indications for drugs and to discontinue drug use.