Polypharmacy

Common card · No. 326063

Polypharmacy (polypragmasia) is an umbrella term to describe the simultaneous use of multiple medicines by a patient for their conditions. The term polypharmacy is often defined as regularly taking five or more medicines, but there is no standard definition, and the term has also been used when a person is prescribed 2 or more medications at the same time. Polypharmacy may be the consequence of having multiple long-term conditions, also known as multimorbidity. Both are more common in the elderly. Polypharmacy may increase the risk of an adverse event in elderly populations and/or those with many chronic comorbidities. In many cases, polypharmacy cannot be avoided, but 'appropriate polypharmacy' practices are encouraged to decrease the risk of adverse effects. Appropriate polypharmacy is defined as polypharmacy in which medications prescribed are optimized, necessary, and follow 'best evidence' practices. The prevalence of polypharmacy is estimated to be between 10% and 90% depending on...

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