Do medication related problems affect the Quality of Life for your residents?
Australian research (Journal of Pharmacy, 2014) suggests that your patients are very likely to suffer from medication misadventure, simply DUE to the nature of multiple drug therapy with chronic disease. Specifically;
- 95% of residents take 5 or more medicines
- On average, each resident takes 7-10 different medicines
- And 25% of residents take 10 or more medicine each day.
Furthermore, Case Notes (Medication safety in Australia, 2013) from Medication Reviews in Residential Aged Care Facilities indicate that there may exist a high incidence of medication related problems with some of your residents. Specifically;
- Almost half (40-50%) of residents in aged care facilities are taking potentially inappropriate medicines according the Beers or McLeod’s criteria.
- Recent studies in NSW show that 96% of residents had at least one medication related problem (MRPs), and 3 MRPs on average.
- Antidepressants, antipsychotics, hypnotics and sedatives, loop diuretics, and drugs acting on the renin angiotensin system were the most commonly identified drugs causing adverse drug interactions in residents.
“Looking after the elderly is a duty and responsibility that involves every person in society.” Emmanuel Pippos, Consultant Pharmacist
