Polypharmacy in Older Adults

Polypharmacy in Older Adults
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Polypharmacy in Older Adults
Polypharmacy entails an administration of multiple medications either appropriately or inappropriately. While the practice can exist for any group demographic, it is more prevalent among older adults, vulnerable to many health risks. However, polypharmacy exposes elderly individuals to risks of adverse effects of drugs. Notably, the elderly groups are likely to encounter adverse health outcomes due to poor adherence, negative drugs interactions, and other serious side effects (American Geriatrics Society 2015 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel, 2015). Healthcare professionals and patients’ family members find it challenging to predict medication errors. The paper will discuss polypharmacy in older adults as one of the major concerns including risk factors for the practice, key components of nursing assessment, and recommendations on ways to improve care for older adults.
Summary
Polypharmacy is a common condition among older individuals that exposes them to a wide range of potential harms. Obesity, multimorbidity, frailty, and mental health conditions are significant risks resulting from increased polypharmacy. Drug use is mutual among older individuals since they suffer from a wide range of chronic diseases. Although polypharmacy might be inevitable, it might be inappropriate for some elderly patients (Ersoy & Engin, 2018). For instance, the practice exposes elderly individuals to increased mortality rates, hospitalization, risk of falls, and other adverse drug events. An increase in the number of medications results in increased risks of adverse drugs outcomes. Research findings indicate that obesity results in increased medications and chronic illnesses, especially among the elderly.
Problem Impacts associated with polypharmacy
Polypharmacy is associated with adverse impacts, such as increased healthcare costs and reduced functional capacity among patients. The increased use of drugs increases falls among elderly individuals (Ersoy & Engin, 2018). However, the type of medication has a close connectedness to falls. Falls have emerged as severe health issues and significant health concerns among elderly groups. The associated risks of falls increase with the number of taken medications. In the contemporary world, falls am...