The Human Toll:
How Are Seniors Affected By Medication-Related Problems?
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Any symptom in an elderly patient should be considered a drug side effect until proved otherwise.
(Gurwitz et al. 1995)
Medication-Related Problems in seniors can cause, aggravate, or contribute to common and costly geriatric problems, including:
- Confusion
- Delirium/hallucinations
- Depression
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness
- Falls
- Incontinence
- Insomnia
- Loss of coordination
- Malnutrition/dehydration
- Memory loss
- Other psychiatric problems
Which can lead to:
Too often, illness in older people is misdiagnosed, overlooked, or dismissed as the normal process of aging, simply because health professionals are not trained to recognize how diseases and drugs affect older people.
(Murphy 1999)
- Decreased quality of life
- Emergency room visits
- Hip fractures and other physical disabilities
- Hospitalization
- Loss of functional ability
- Loss of independence
- Nursing facility placement
- Physician visits
- Death
Senior care pharmacists identify and prevent medication-related problems through careful evaluation and monitoring of patients’ drug regimens. Click here to find a senior care pharmacist in your area.
- References
- Gurwitz J., Monane M., Monane S., Avorn J. Long-Term Care Quality Letter. Brown University. 1995.
Murphy J. Senate Special Committee on Aging. quoted in The Washington Post, May 30, 1999.
