Authors :
Dr. K. Sechana; A.Rashmi
Volume/Issue :
Volume 5 - 2020, Issue 6 - June
Google Scholar :
http://bitly.ws/9nMw
Scribd :
https://bit.ly/2ZiZlhF
Abstract :
Polypharmacy is the consumption of five or
more drugs at the same time. Cardiovascular disease is
difficult to diagnose and be treated in geriatric patients.
Objectives: The objective of the present study is to
assess the prevalence of polypharmacy in
cardiovascular diseases among geriatric patients. Other
objectives include evaluation of the common reasons of
admission, comorbidities, and echocardiography and to
assess this polypharmacy using ARMOR TOOL.
Methods: A 6 months prospective study was conducted
at a tertiary hospital with 150 ambulatory geriatric
patients (60yr or above and of either sex). We followed
two methods in the study. In method-1, the etiology and
frequency of polypharmacy, comorbidities, reasons of
admission and the nature of drug treatment were taken
into consideration. In method-2, ARMOR TOOL was
used to evaluate the polypharmacy in geriatric patients.
Result: Of the total 150 prescriptions received, 75.34%
(n=113) were males and 24.66% (n=37) were females.
The polypharmacy among patients were calculated,
14.68% (n=22) were noted as minor polypharmacy,
62.66% (n=94) were noted as moderate polypharmacy
and 22.64% (n=34) were found to be serious
polypharmacy. Beers criteria list of drugs were
identified and monitored using ARMOR TOOL. The
drug interactions were found in 93.33% (n=140) of the
total prescriptions and in 6.67% (n=10) had no
interactions. The total number of ADRs found were
8.67% (n=13). Conclusion: Careful and thoughtful drug
prescription strategy seems to be able to eliminate most
of the cases of polypharmacy and drug related problems
even in patients who are suffering from multiple
disorders.
Keywords :
Cardiovascular diseases, Comorbidities, ADRs, Polypharmacy, ARMOR TOOL, Geriatrics
Polypharmacy is the consumption of five or
more drugs at the same time. Cardiovascular disease is
difficult to diagnose and be treated in geriatric patients.
Objectives: The objective of the present study is to
assess the prevalence of polypharmacy in
cardiovascular diseases among geriatric patients. Other
objectives include evaluation of the common reasons of
admission, comorbidities, and echocardiography and to
assess this polypharmacy using ARMOR TOOL.
Methods: A 6 months prospective study was conducted
at a tertiary hospital with 150 ambulatory geriatric
patients (60yr or above and of either sex). We followed
two methods in the study. In method-1, the etiology and
frequency of polypharmacy, comorbidities, reasons of
admission and the nature of drug treatment were taken
into consideration. In method-2, ARMOR TOOL was
used to evaluate the polypharmacy in geriatric patients.
Result: Of the total 150 prescriptions received, 75.34%
(n=113) were males and 24.66% (n=37) were females.
The polypharmacy among patients were calculated,
14.68% (n=22) were noted as minor polypharmacy,
62.66% (n=94) were noted as moderate polypharmacy
and 22.64% (n=34) were found to be serious
polypharmacy. Beers criteria list of drugs were
identified and monitored using ARMOR TOOL. The
drug interactions were found in 93.33% (n=140) of the
total prescriptions and in 6.67% (n=10) had no
interactions. The total number of ADRs found were
8.67% (n=13). Conclusion: Careful and thoughtful drug
prescription strategy seems to be able to eliminate most
of the cases of polypharmacy and drug related problems
even in patients who are suffering from multiple
disorders.
Keywords :
Cardiovascular diseases, Comorbidities, ADRs, Polypharmacy, ARMOR TOOL, Geriatrics
