This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (4)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Adverse Effects  • Drug Therapy, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

A Step Forward

Joseph V. Agostini, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(8):753-754.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As the number of medications taken by older adults continues to rise,¹ patients and physicians have voiced concerns about the overall effect of multiple medication use. Although there is little doubt about the benefits of individual medications for the treatment of specific chronic conditions or health symptoms, there is much less certainty regarding the benefits and harms of multiple medications taken together.² The prescription of multiple medications in older adults raises several complex issues. Lower rates of adherence, increased drug costs, greater risk for adverse effects, and uncertain benefits in older adults with multiple chronic conditions each contribute to the potential disadvantages of multiple medication prescribing. Furthermore, widely cited reports on medication-related patient safety issues have grabbed the attention of both patients and physicians.³

Investigators have introduced different strategies intended to make medication prescribing safer for aging adults. Perhaps the most widely studied approach has been . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION

RELATED ARTICLE

A Drug Burden Index to Define the Functional Burden of Medications in Older People
Sarah N. Hilmer, Donald E. Mager, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Ying Cao, Shari M. Ling, B. Gwen Windham, Tamara B. Harris, Joseph T. Hanlon, Susan M. Rubin, Ronald I. Shorr, Douglas C. Bauer, and Darrell R. Abernethy
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(8):781-787.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Assessing Multiple Medication Use With Probabilities of Benefits and Harms
Murphy et al.
J Aging Health 2008;20:694-709.
ABSTRACT