CONSEQUENCES OF POLYPHARMACY ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF GERIATRIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Polypharmacy is the term in which the individual uses five or more medications concurrently. The use of multidrugs can bring more harm than good if not rigorously analyzed. The elderly patient can trigger greater problems, not only physiological, but also routine, directly affecting their quality of life. The aim of this integrative review was to analyze the consequences that polypharmacy affects on the quality of life of geriatric patients. Reearches was performed for existing articles in the following platforms PubMed and Lilacs, with a total of 25 articles included after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to the review, it was observed that the greatest impact of using five or more drugs would be the increased risk of drug interactions. In view of the analyzed studies, we also consider that there is an increase in the probability of hospitalization, sarcopenia, falls, development of chronic constipation, urinary incontinence, in addition to an elderly patient's mental effort to remember to take so many medications. Finally, it was evident that the physician, when prescribing medications, must pay greater attention to not overmedicate the elderly patient and lead them to possible bigger problems than those that already exist.