Polypharmacy in the Elderly: A Multicenter Study

WOS: 000270438400009PubMed: 19716065Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the polypharmacy issue and its correlations with socio-economic variables in Turkish elderly patients. Design: Cross-sectional Setting: Outpatient clinics of the medical schools, departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation from 12 provinces. Participants: A total of 1430 elderly in different geographical regions of Turkey during January 2007 to January 2008 were included. Measurements: Patients were interviewed using a questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, current medical diagnosis, and pharmaceuticals that are used by elderly. Demographical parameters were gender, age, marital status, number of children, level of education, province, and status of retirement. Results: The mean number of drugs was found to be higher in the females. There was a significant difference among age groups, marital status groups, and the number of children categories. The distribution of the number of drugs among education levels did not differ significantly, whereas the distribution of the number of drugs between the status of retirement and presence of chronic disease differed significantly. Conclusions: Polypharmacy is correlated with various factors including age, sex, marital status, number of children, status of retirement, and presence of chronic medical conditions but not educational status in our study group. (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2009; 10: 486-490

Polypharmacy in the Elderly: A Multicenter Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the polypharmacy issue and its correlations with socio-economic variables in Turkish elderly patients

Polypharmacy in the Elderly: A Multicenter Study

WOS: 000270438400009PubMed ID: 19716065Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the polypharmacy issue and its correlations with socio-economic variables in Turkish elderly patients. Design: Cross-sectional Setting: Outpatient clinics of the medical schools, departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation from 12 provinces. Participants: A total of 1430 elderly in different geographical regions of Turkey during January 2007 to January 2008 were included. Measurements: Patients were interviewed using a questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, current medical diagnosis, and pharmaceuticals that are used by elderly. Demographical parameters were gender, age, marital status, number of children, level of education, province, and status of retirement. Results: The mean number of drugs was found to be higher in the females. There was a significant difference among age groups, marital status groups, and the number of children categories. The distribution of the number of drugs among education levels did not differ significantly, whereas the distribution of the number of drugs between the status of retirement and presence of chronic disease differed significantly. Conclusions: Polypharmacy is correlated with various factors including age, sex, marital status, number of children, status of retirement, and presence of chronic medical conditions but not educational status in our study group. (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2009; 10: 486-490

Practical approaches for the treatment of chronic heart failure: Frequently asked questions, overlooked points and controversial issues in current clinical practice

Heart failure (HF) is a progressive disorder associated with impaired quality of life, high morbidity, mortality and frequent hospitalization and affects millions of people from all around the world. Despite further improvements in HF therapy, mortality and morbidity remains to be very high. The life-long treatment, frequent hospitalization, and sophisticated and very expensive device therapies for HF also leads a substantial economic burden on the health care system. Therefore, implementation of evidence-based guideline-recommended therapy is very important to overcome its worse clinical outcomes. However, HF therapy is a long process that has many drawbacks and sometimes HF guidelines cannot answers to every question which rises in everyday clinical practice. In this paper, commonly encountered questions, overlooked points, controversial issues, management strategies in grey zone and problems arising during follow up of a HF patient in real life clinical practice have been addressed in the form of expert opinions based on the available data in the literature

Practical approaches for the treatment of chronic heart failure: Frequently asked questions, overlooked points and controversial issues in current clinical practice

Heart failure (HF) is a progressive disorder associated with impaired quality of life, high morbidity, mortality and frequent hospitalization and affects millions of people from all around the world. Despite further improvements in HF therapy, mortality and morbidity remains to be very high. The life-long treatment, frequent hospitalization, and sophisticated and very expensive device therapies for HF also leads a substantial economic burden on the health care system. Therefore, implementation of evidence-based guideline-recommended therapy is very important to overcome its worse clinical outcomes. However, HF therapy is a long process that has many drawbacks and sometimes HF guidelines cannot answers to every question which rises in everyday clinical practice. In this paper, commonly encountered questions, overlooked points, controversial issues, management strategies in grey zone and problems arising during follow up of a HF patient in real life clinical practice have been addressed in the form of expert opinions based on the available data in the literature