Avoiding polypharmacy and iatrogenesis in the nursing home.
The vast majority of nursing home patients over age 65 take at least one prescription medicine, and, on average, seven drugs are concurrently prescribed for each of these patients. One result of this polypharmacy is an increased risk of iatrogenic disease. The authors discuss traditional prescribing patterns in nursing homes and how these patterns contribute to drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in nursing home patients, as well as strategies to reduce polypharmacy and iatrogenesis.
Daly
M P
MP
Department of Family Medicine, University of Maryland at Baltimore.
Lamy
P P
PP
Richardson
J P
JP
D000368:Aged; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'