Abstract

MEDEIROS-SOUZA, Patrícia; SANTOS-NETO, Leopoldo Luiz dos; KUSANO, Liana Tieko Evangelista  and  PEREIRA, Maurício Gomes. Diagnosis and control of polypharmacy in the elderly. Rev. Saúde Pública [online]. 2007, vol.41, n.6, pp. 1049-1053.  Epub Nov 01, 2007. ISSN 0034-8910.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102006005000050.

The article had the purpose of commenting on studies on polypharmacy in the elderly, focusing on diagnosis and control. Polypharmacy is defined as the use of a number of medications at the same time and the use of additional drugs to correct drug adverse effects. The fact that the elderly take more medications for the treatment of several diseases makes them more susceptible to the occurrence of adverse reactions. Prophylactic actions such as balanced prescriptions are vital to reduce the incidence of these reactions and prevent longer hospital stay, increased costs and aggravation of the elderly health condition.

Keywords : Health of the elderly; Drug therapy, combination; Prescriptions, drug; Drug interactions; Drugs of continuous use; Comment.