An Intervention on Discharge Polypharmacy

Abstract

Providing a method for canceling pre-admission medications did not reduce the number of RXs at discharge. Further research is needed to evaluate the appropriateness of the large increase in RXs from admission to discharge for patients in acute hospital settings.

Polypharmacy and Medication Adherence. Small Steps on a Long Road

“…Muir and colleagues did not randomize physicians because blinding was not possible and therefore contamination across teams would have been a distinct possibility. However, a randomized controlled trial by Smith et al failed to show a reduction in polypharmacy when physicians were provided a list of their patients' outpatient medications 10 . While residents and interns did not return to study ward services in the trial of Muir et al, it is uncertain whether some faculty may have attended on more than one rotation and, if so, whether this may have had any influence on the findings.…”

Polypharmacy and medication adherence

“…Few would argue about the benefits of reducing the use of amitriptyline among older adults. 10 While residents and interns did not return to study ward services in the trial of Muir et al it is uncertain whether some faculty may have attended on more than one rotation and, if so, whether this may have had any influence on the findings. Further, care must be taken that the timing of discontinuations of some medications such as central nervous system depressants does not lead to withdrawal reactions shortly after discharge.…”

Preliminary results of a specialist pharmacist-led polypharmacy clinic for patients with prostate cancer

“…A number of studies have examined the impact of a hospital stay on the number of medicines prescribed. A US study of an acute medical service found an average increase in medicines of 2.9 from admission to discharge (Smith et al 1996). In the Italian Gruppo Italiano di Farmacovigilanza nell' Anziano (GIFA) study, there was an increase in the median number of prescribed drugs, from 3 before admission to 4 at discharge, driven by multi-morbidity and a number of specific clinical conditions such as diabetes (Corsonello 2007).…”