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Editorial| Volume 17, ISSUE 2, P97-98, February 01, 2016

The Burden of Overmedication: What Are the Real Issues?

      In the specialties of geriatric medicine and long-term care, medication reduction is a large focus of daily clinical work and research due to the significant morbidity and mortality burden of polypharmacy on older adults.
      • Bootman J.L.
      • Harrison D.L.
      • Cox E.
      The health care cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality in nursing facilities.
      • Field T.S.
      • Gurwitz J.H.
      • Harrold L.R.
      • et al.
      Risk factors for adverse drug events among older adults in the ambulatory setting.
      • Planton J.
      • Edlund B.J.
      Strategies for reducing polypharmacy in older adults.
      • Roberts M.S.
      • Stokes J.A.
      • King M.A.
      • et al.
      Outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of a clinical pharmacy intervention in 52 nursing homes.
      • Onder G.
      Polypharmacy and mortality among nursing home residents with advanced cognitive impairment: Results from the Shelter study.
      • Scott I.A.
      • Gray L.C.
      • Martin J.H.
      • Mitchell C.A.
      Minimizing inappropriate medications in older populations: A 10-step conceptual framework.
      Many drug-specific tools and interventions to reduce polypharmacy have been developed and tested across health care settings.
      • Planton J.
      • Edlund B.J.
      Strategies for reducing polypharmacy in older adults.
      • Kojima G.
      • Bell C.
      • Tamura B.
      • et al.
      Reducing cost by reducing polypharmacy: The polypharmacy outcomes project.
      • Meyer T.J.
      • Van Kooten D.
      • Marsh S.
      • Prochazka A.V.
      Reduction of polypharmacy by feedback to clinicians.
      • Kripalani S.
      • Jackson A.T.
      • Schnipper J.L.
      • Coleman E.A.
      Promoting effective transitions of care at hospital discharge: A review of key issues for hospitalists.
      • Haque R.
      ARMOR: A tool to evaluate polypharmacy in elderly persons.
      • Little M.O.
      • Morley A.
      Reducing polypharmacy: Evidence from a simple quality improvement initiative.
      Most of these interventions start with identifying the use of high-risk medications, as well as those with a high utilization rate that could be a target for reduction or optimization. In this issue, a group of researchers
      • Onder G.
      • Marengoni A.
      • Russo P.
      • et al.
      Advanced age and medication prescription: More years, less medications? A nationwide report from the Italian Medicines Agency.
      sought to describe medication utilization of older adults across Italy at a population level. The study yielded interesting results, which are hypothesis driving and worth discussing further.
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