Polypharmacy and Cardiovascular Diseases: Consideration for Older Adults and Women.

Abstract

The intent of this review is to provide an update in polypharmacy in older adults and women with a focus on common determinants and strategies to mitigate polypharmacy. Polypharmacy is becoming a critical focus in the management of cardiovascular diseases. It may emerge unintentionally while managing multimorbidity in older adults or in the vulnerable subgroup of patients, such as pregnant and lactating females. Clinicians should utilize several approaches such as deprescribing, sex-specific risk assessment, and encouraging healthy lifestyle to minimize inappropriate and unnecessary use of medications. A shared decision-making model along with coordination and collaboration among healthcare providers should be utilized in the selection and management of pharmacotherapies.