Curriculum · Elderly / Community care
Polypharmacy
What it is
Polypharmacy is the use of many medications by one patient at the same time, and it is prevalent in the geriatric population. The definition is set at a count: polypharmacy is the use of 5 medications or more.
What can go wrong
Two harms follow from it. The first is drug-drug interactions: because polypharmacy is prevalent in older patients, it is important to be aware of potential interactions. The second is delirium, of which polypharmacy is one risk factor, alongside extremes of ages, medical comorbidities, infections, head trauma and dementia.