Polypharmacy

St. Joseph’s Clinical Group

Akya Sanders, Anthony Suda, Dana Ageeb, Emma Cahoon,
Gabriela Lasso De La Vega, Haven Harrington, Jennifer
Brown, Kristiauna Hamlin, Olivia Meitzner, Samantha
Gongora, Yoshiko George
2 What Is Polypharmacy?
 How Does Polypharmacy Occur?
3
4 Common Populations Affected
5 Polypharmacy and Comorbidities

The relationship between polypharmacy and patient's comorbidities

6 Impact of Polypharmacy
7 Impact of Polypharmacy Cont.
8 Nursing Considerations
▹ Information
▹ Instruction
▹ Organization
9 Nursing Considerations Cont.
10 Patient Education About Polypharmacy
▹ Make a list of meds

▹ Take the list to your

appointments
11 Patient Education About Polypharmacy Cont.

▹ Use only one

pharmacy

▹ Tell your
provider about
OTC meds
12 Continuity of Care

▹ Continuity of
Care is essential
in the prevention
of polypharmacy
13 Continuity of Care Cont.
14 Case Studies: Polypharmacy in the Elderly
▹ A cross-sectional sample of
59 adults in Cuyahoga
county, Ohio
▹ All aged ≥65 years taking ≥5
prescribed medications
15 Case Studies: Polypharmacy in Elderly Cont.
▹ Communication is
key to reduce
polypharmacy
16 Case Studies: Polypharmacy and General Surgical Patients

▹ Study of 1025 general

surgical patients in
Dunedin, New Zealand

▹ All were age 16 or above

and receiving on average 9
or more drugs
17 Case Studies: Polypharmacy and General Surgical Patients
▹ Only 8% of the drugs were
important to the surgery
the patient had received

▹ 273 patients in the survey group had

a total of 373 complications related
to polypharmacy!
18 Case Study: Polypharmacy and Pediatrics
▹ 42 freestanding
children’s
hospitals
throughout the
United States

▹ 54,549 patients
in PICUs studied
19 Case Study: Polypharmacy and Pediatrics Cont.

▹ 75% of patients
were exposed to
≥1 potential drug-
drug interactions
(PDDI) regardless
of severity level
20 Conclusion
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