Facing the challenge of polypharmacy when prescribing for older people with cardiovascular disease: A review by the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy

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    Accepted author manuscript, 708 KB, PDF document

  • Juan Tamargo
  • Keld Per Kjeldsen
  • Eva Delpon
  • Anne Grete Semb
  • Elisabetta Cerbai
  • Dobromir Dobrev
  • Gianluigi Savarese
  • Patrick Sulzgruber
  • Giuseppe Rosano
  • Claudio Borghi
  • Seven Wassman
  • Torp-Pedersen, Christian Tobias
  • Stefan Agewall
  • Heinz Drexel
  • Iris Baumgartner
  • Basil Lewis
  • Claudio Ceconi
  • Juan Carlos Kaski
  • Alexander Niessner

Population ageing has resulted in an increasing number of older people living with chronic diseases (multimorbidity) requiring five or more medications daily (polypharmacy). Ageing produces important changes in the cardiovascular system and represents the most potent single cardiovascular risk factor. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) constitute the greatest burden for older people, their caregivers, and healthcare systems. Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy in older people is complex because age-related changes in body composition, organ function, homeostatic mechanisms, and comorbidities modify the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of many commonly used cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular drugs. Additionally, polypharmacy increases the risk of adverse drug reactions and drug interactions, which in turn can lead to increased morbi-mortality and healthcare costs. Unfortunately, evidence of drug efficacy and safety in older people with multimorbidity and polypharmacy is limited because these individuals are frequently underrepresented/excluded from clinical trials. Moreover, clinical guidelines are largely written with a single-disease focus and only occasionally address the issue of coordination of care, when and how to discontinue treatments, if required, or how to prioritize recommendations for patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. This review analyses the main challenges confronting healthcare professionals when prescribing in older people with CVD, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. Our goal is to provide information that can contribute to improving drug prescribing, efficacy, and safety, as well as drug adherence and clinical outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy
Volume8
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)406–419
Number of pages14
ISSN2055-6837
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

    Research areas

  • Older people, Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes, Polypharmacy, Inappropriate prescribing, Adverse drug reactions, Drug-drug and drug-disease interactions, DRUG-DRUG INTERACTIONS, COLLEGE-OF-CARDIOLOGY, INAPPROPRIATE MEDICATIONS, SCIENTIFIC STATEMENT, ADULTS, MULTIMORBIDITY, CARE, CONSEQUENCES, PRESCRIPTION, POPULATION

ID: 300910132