Abstract:

With the acceleration of society’s aging process, the widespread phenomenon of polypharmacy among the elderly has become a significant concern. This research aimed to analyze potential inappropriate medication among 178 inpatients in the geriatric general department of our hospital from January 2022 to September 2022. The participants were randomly assigned to an observation group and a control group. The observation group received pharmaceutical intervention, whereas the control group did not. The objective was to explore the impact of pharmaceutical intervention on polypharmacy in this population. The results revealed that after pharmaceutical intervention, there were no significant differences in medication adherence, medication appropriateness index (MAI), quantity of medicine, and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) in the control group compared to before the intervention (P > 0.05). However, the observation group showed significant improvement (P < 0.05). The proportion of patients with good adherence increased from 57% to 78%, and the percentage of patients with MAI scores over 10 decreased from 60% to 40%. Moreover, there was a reduction in the number of medications prescribed, with only 47% of patients receiving more than five different types compared to the initial rate of 64%. Additionally, the occurrence of PIM declined from an initial rate of 64% to just 44%, surpassing that observed in the control group. Therefore, the implementation of pharmaceutical intervention can effectively enhance medication adherence and appropriateness among elderly patients, mitigate the risk of PIM, and promote rational medicine utilization.

Key words: Polypharmacy, Pharmaceutical intervention, Medication appropriateness index, Beers Criteria