Problems Regarding Polypharmacy in Elderly in Indian Population

Abstract

Among the general population, various international studies have shown that poly pharmacy is common in the older adults but those adults who were residing in nursing homes took the maximum number of drugs. It has also be shown that nearly half of the older adult population take one or more medications that are not medically necessary as per their conditions. According to various research, it has been clearly established that there is a strong association between multiple drug use and negative clinical consequences. In addition to that, conducting well-designed inter-professional intervention studies, which often include clinical pharmacists, that focus on enrolling high-risk older patients taking multiple medications with mixed results on distal health outcomes can improve the effectiveness of enhancing the overall quality of prescribing medications. It is critical to do research on poly pharmacy in a nation like India or other low to medium income countries. Poly pharmacy is induced by a multitude of variables at the levels of health-seeking, prescription, distribution, and usage. Society-based issues such as a lack of education and access to adequate healthcare in both rural and urban regions, as well as a general lack of health knowledge and passion, further aggravate the situation. Poly pharmacy is a key challenge in senior care. The senior population frequently has several medical diseases and may possibly suffer from cancer, which necessitates the use of multiple drugs for therapy. Multiple drugs used by an aged person can increase the likelihood of drug-drug interactions, noncompliance with the prescription, adverse drug responses, and reduced patient compliance.