Opportunities to Reduce Medication Regimen Complexity

Abstract

Almost one-fifth of all regimen complexity characteristics relevant for patient adherence were avoidable by simple modifications of the medication scheme, stressing the need for targeted interventions.

Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications: a cross-sectional analysis among 451 nursing homes in France

“…The increased risk of adverse drug events associated with polypharmacy may be explained by the increased risk of receiving psychotropic medications and PIMs. In addition, polypharmacy increases medication regimen complexity and the risk of errors during the preparation and dispensation of medications [24].…”

Impact of Medication Regimen Simplification on Medication Administration Times and Health Outcomes in Residential Aged Care: 12 Month Follow Up of the SIMPLER Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Medication regimen simplification through consolidating dose times or selecting combination medications, where available, may reduce complexity without changing overall therapeutic goals [17][18][19][20][21]. The number of administration times has been identified by community-dwelling individuals as more burdensome than the overall number of medications or medication classes [22].…”

Analysis of Community-Based Accumulation of Home Medications (CACHES) Found at Death Scenes in Davidson County, Tennessee

“…Polypharmacy contributes to poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens (Dunbar-Jacob & Mortimer-Stephens, 2001;New England Healthcare Institute, 2009;Prybys et al, 2002;Sorensen et al, 2005;Witticke, Seidling, Lohmann, Send, & Haefeli, 2013). As the number of concurrently prescribed medications increases, the likelihood of the patient taking all medications as prescribed decreases (Hajjar et al, 2007;New England Healthcare Institute, 2009;Sorensen et al, 2005;Witticke et al, 2013).…”

“…As the number of concurrently prescribed medications increases, the likelihood of the patient taking all medications as prescribed decreases (Hajjar et al, 2007;New England Healthcare Institute, 2009;Sorensen et al, 2005;Witticke et al, 2013). This incomplete consumption of all prescribed medications leads to the accumulation of unused and expired medications (Barat et al, 2000;Sorensen et al, 2005).…”

“…This decentralized delivery of health care has the potential to contribute to polypharmacy or, at worst, duplicate prescriptions for the same medication or same medication class (Green et al, 2007;Linjakumpu et al, 2002;Mansur, Weiss, Hoffman, et al, 2008;New England Healthcare Institute, 2009;Prybys et al, 2002;Werder & Preskorn, 2003). Polypharmacy contributes to poor adherence (Dunbar-Jacob & Mortimer-Stephens, 2001;Mansur, Weiss, Hoffman, et al, 2008;New England Healthcare Institute, 2009;Prybys et al, 2002;Sorensen et al, 2005;Witticke et al, 2013) and adverse drug events (Boparai & Korc-Grodzicki, 2011;Prybys et al, 2002;Sorensen et al, 2004;Werder & Preskorn, 2003). Nonadherence results in poorly controlled comorbid conditions.…”