Bullet point summary:
What is already known about this subject:
- Physician-led medication reviews improved health-related quality of
life in geriatric outpatients with polypharmacy
- Medication reviews reduced the total number of medicines, but which
medicines were reduced, why the medicines were reduced, and which
patients had the most medicines reduced are not known
What this study adds:
- The most frequent change during medication reviews was discontinuation
due to lack of indication
- The medicines most often discontinued may cause adverse effects in
older patients, e.g. metoclopramide, zopiclone, citalopram, and
tramadol
- Patient-related factors including number of medicines and motivation
may identify patients most likely to benefit from medication reviews