Geriatric Flashcards
Higher incidence of chronic disease leads to
- More medications
- Altered pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
What do older adults have a higher risk and incidence of?
- Adverse drug reactions
- Can be more severe
What is an adverse drug events
Any poor outcome while utilizing medication
treatment which may or may not be directly caused by treatment
ADRs are the most measurable ADE, but ADE’s can also include:
– inappropriate prescribing
– non-compliance
– underuse of appropriate therapies
– drug-drug and drug-disease interactions
What is poly pharmacy typically defines as?
multiple drug prescriptions, usually 4 (or 5) or more
Polypharmacy can include:
– Unnecessary/duplicate medications
– Inappropriate dosing
– Drugs with negative interactions (drug-drug or
drug-diagnosis)
– Use of new drugs to treat symptoms of ADR
– Contraindicated drug
Inappropriate prescribing occurs when
utilizing drugs with poor safety profiles (more
harm than benefit), inappropriate dosage or
duration, duplication of drugs/classes
Risks of Polypharmacy/Over-medication
- Increased risk of falls
- Increased risk of hospital readmissions
- Increased risk of mortality
- Decreased quality of life
- Increased risk of medication non-adherence
- Increased health care utilization
- Increased risk of adverse drug events
Older adults can have reduced:
absorption, metabolism, elimination
absorption in older adults
efficiency of gut absorption can be
impaired, movement of gut can be slower or faster
Metabolism in older adults
Liver function declines with age even in
the absence of pathology
Elimination in older adults
Kidney function declines with age even in
the absence of pathology
* Average GFR at age 20: 116 mL/min/1.73m2
* Average GFR at age 70: 75 mL/min/1.73m
why do older adults have delayed clearance?
Clearance of drugs from the body is dependent on liver and kidney
Other Factors Affecting Pharmacokinetics
- Liver or kidney pathology slows metabolism
and elimination of some drugs (both more
common in elderly) - Enzyme induction in liver may affect drug
activity and bioavailability - Presence of certain chemicals increases or
decreases elimination (ex: vitamin C)
How does body composition affect pharmacokinetics
–decreased lean muscle mass and body water
(common in elderly and deconditioned adults) results in relative increase in serum levels of water soluble drugs at same dosage
–increased fat mass results in accumulation of
lipid soluble agents
seealotwigas
What drugs are older adults more sensitive to than younger adults
CNS-active agents (benzos, anesthetics, opioids)
Older adults can show decreased responsiveness to what agents?
Agents affecting cardiac, vascular, and pulmonary
tissue
Other Factors Affecting Drug Use & Effectiveness in Older Adults
- Nutrition
- Finances
- Compliance
- Cognitive impairment/dementia
- Hoarding/sharing
- Use of OTC meds
– Laxatives
– Alcohol
– Caffeine
– Herbal supplements
Tools to Identify Inappropriate Prescribing and Improve Prescription
- Beers Criteria
- STOPP/START
Drugs of primary concern
Benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, barbiturates, tricyclic antidepressants, strong anticholinergics , non-benzo benzodiazepine receptor agonist hypnotics, proton pump inhibitors for long term use
drug combinations of concerns
- concurrent use of 3 or more CNS agents due to increased fall risk
- SNRI in patients with history of falls/fracture
Key points about Beers Criteria
– Listed medications are potentially inappropriate,
NOT definitely inappropriate. Guidance and
caveats are provided.
– Criteria are specifically not applicable to patients
in hospice/palliative care, as the risk/benefit
calculation may be very different.
– The list is published as a starting point in
identifying optimal drug usage
What is STOPP
screening tool of older people’s prescriptions:
lists PIMs (things that maybe shouldn’t be used)
what is START
screening tool to alert to right treatment: lists
PPOs (potential prescribing omissions)
drugs of concern on the STOPP
– Tricyclic antidepressants, benzos, anti-psychotics – Inappropriate aspirin use
– Non COX-2 specific NSAIDs
– Anticholinergics
most commonly prescribed drug types
– Cardiovascular meds
– Endocrine med