Abstract: As individuals age, the likelihood of developing more than one chronic condition increases. The presence of more than one disease, or multimorbidity, often leads to treatment with multiple medications (polypharmacy). Unfortunately, polypharmacy may predispose older adults to a number of adverse consequences, including adverse drug reactions, potentially inappropriate prescribing/medications, nonadherence, functional status decline, geriatric syndromes, and mortality. This chapter will focus on the prevalence of multimorbidity among older adults, the epidemiology of polypharmacy in this population, and the negative clinical outcomes associated with the use of multiple medications.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 24
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