Ausaf Hayat Khan

• Mpharm Pharmacy
• A Review of Patient Decisions Aids in Older People to Address Polypharmacy

People are living longer and the number of those aged over 65 is increasing. Many individuals often have multiple conditions, for which they are prescribed numerous medications. This can lead to ‘problematic polypharmacy’, where multiple medications are prescribed inappropriately, or where the intended benefit of the medication is not realised. Clinical guidelines and decision support tools are used by clinicians to help address problematic polypharmacy. However, the majority concentrate on single disease states and do not consider patient views in the decision-making process. This systematic review explored the use and impact of patient decision aids in multi-morbid older patients to help address problematic polypharmacy. We identified three key themes: patient empowerment, medicine optimisation and strengthening of the ‘Doctor-Patient Relationship’ across ten articles. These decision aids enabled clinicians to become more aware of patient priorities, helped build rapport with individuals, and make changes to treatments to reduce problematic polypharmacy.

 Funding source: Biomedical Research Centre

 Supervisor: David Lydall