Duquesne University, Pharmacy , 321 Bayer Building, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15209 , USA
Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2014 Jan;13(1):57-65. doi: 10.1517/14740338.2013.827660. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
Polypharmacy, defined as the use of multiple drugs or more than are medically necessary, is a growing concern for older adults. MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from January 1, 1986 to June 30, 2013) to identify relevant articles in people aged > 65 years.
We present information about: i) prevalence of polypharmacy and unnecessary medication use; ii) negative consequences of polypharmacy; and iii) interventions to improve polypharmacy.
International research shows that polypharmacy is common in older adults with the highest number of drugs taken by those residing in nursing homes. Nearly 50% of older adults take one or more medications that are not medically necessary. Research has clearly established a strong relationship between polypharmacy and negative clinical consequences. Moreover, well-designed interprofessional (often including clinical pharmacist) intervention studies that focus on enrolling high-risk older patients with polypharmacy have shown that they can be effective in reducing aspects of unnecessary prescribing with mixed results on distal health outcomes.
多种药物治疗，定义为使用多种药物或超过医学所需的药物，是老年人越来越关注的问题。从 1986 年 1 月 1 日至 2013 年 6 月 30 日，我们在 MEDLINE 和 EMBASE 数据库中搜索，以确定> 65 岁人群的相关文章。
我们介绍了以下信息：i）多种药物治疗和不必要药物使用的流行程度；ii）多种药物治疗的不良后果；iii）改善多种药物治疗的干预措施。
国际研究表明，老年人中多种药物治疗很常见，在疗养院居住的老年人服用的药物最多。近 50%的老年人服用一种或多种不必要的药物。研究清楚地确立了多种药物治疗与负面临床后果之间的强相关性。此外，针对患有多种药物治疗的高风险老年患者的精心设计的跨专业（通常包括临床药师）干预研究表明，它们可以有效地减少不必要的处方的某些方面，但对远端健康结果的影响则好坏参半。
