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Geriatric Pharmacology

Are Your Medications Putting You at Risk?

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Weekly Pill Dispenser

Did you know that adverse drug-related events in the Medicare population occur at a rate of approximately 5% per patient per year? Among seniors, there are more than 180,000 life-threatening or fatal adverse drug events yearly.1

Some of the reasons for these medication-related problems include:

  • Polypharmacy (use of more than 4 to 5 medications)
  • Poor adherence or not taking medications as they are prescribed
  • Lack of understanding of medication use
  • Multiple medical problems
  • Inappropriate prescriptions

Most of these tragic events are preventable. All it takes is answering a few simple questions to help you identify whether you or a family member may be at risk for such an event. The following has been adapted from a questionnaire which originally appeared in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.2

1. Do you take five or more medications?
     No    Yes   

2. Do you take twelve or more doses of medication each day?
     No    Yes

3. Do you take any of the following medications?

     Tegretol (Carbamazepine) No    Yes

     Lithobid (Lithium) No    Yes

     Dilantin (Phenytoin) No    Yes

    Quinidine No    Yes

    Coumadin (Warfarin) No    Yes

    Lanoxin (Digoxin) No    Yes

     Nembutal (Pentobarbital) No    Yes

     Procan (Procainamide) No    Yes

     Theo-Dur (Theophylline) No    Yes

4. Does more than one physician prescribe medications for you on a regular basis?
     No    Yes

5. Are you currently taking medications for three or more medical problems?
     No    Yes

6. Do you get your prescriptions filled at more than one pharmacy?
     No    Yes

7. Does someone else bring any of your medications to your home for you?
     No    Yes

8. Is it difficult for you to follow your medication regimen or do you sometimes not follow it?
     No    Yes

9. Have your medications or the instructions on how to take them been changed four or more times in the past year?
     No    Yes

10. Are you taking a medicine but don't know the reason why you're taking it?
     No    Yes

If you answered “yes” to two or more questions, you may be at risk. See your pharmacist or your primary care provider to see what can be done to decrease your risk. Although this questionnaire doesn't identify all risk factors, it has been shown to be highly predictive of such problems.

Stay active in both mind and body...take care!

Dr. Joe Woelfel


  

1. Gurwitz JH, Field TS, Harrold LR, et al. Incidence and Preventability of Adverse Drug Events Among Older Persons in the Ambulatory Setting. JAMA 2003; 289:1107–16.
2. Levy HB, Self-administered Medication-risk Questionnaire in an Elderly Population. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2003;37:982–7.

Posted in Geriatric Pharmacology, Get Organized: Tools for Caregiving, Medication Management, Tips for Healthy Living

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