Version 1
: Received: 18 September 2024 / Approved: 19 September 2024 / Online: 19 September 2024 (16:44:36 CEST)
How to cite:
Yang, H.-W.; Yu, C.-H.; Huang, T.-Y.; Huang, C.-H.; Su, Y.-J. Reducing Polypharmacy Through Team Resource Management in the Emergency Department: A Focus on Deprescribing in Elderly Patients. Preprints2024, 2024091547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1547.v1
Yang, H.-W.; Yu, C.-H.; Huang, T.-Y.; Huang, C.-H.; Su, Y.-J. Reducing Polypharmacy Through Team Resource Management in the Emergency Department: A Focus on Deprescribing in Elderly Patients. Preprints 2024, 2024091547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1547.v1
Yang, H.-W.; Yu, C.-H.; Huang, T.-Y.; Huang, C.-H.; Su, Y.-J. Reducing Polypharmacy Through Team Resource Management in the Emergency Department: A Focus on Deprescribing in Elderly Patients. Preprints2024, 2024091547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1547.v1
APA Style
Yang, H. W., Yu, C. H., Huang, T. Y., Huang, C. H., & Su, Y. J. (2024). Reducing Polypharmacy Through Team Resource Management in the Emergency Department: A Focus on Deprescribing in Elderly Patients. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1547.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Yang, H., Chia-Hui Huang and Yu-Jang Su. 2024 "Reducing Polypharmacy Through Team Resource Management in the Emergency Department: A Focus on Deprescribing in Elderly Patients" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1547.v1
Abstract
Polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications, is a prevalent issue globally that contributes to increased healthcare costs and places additional burdens on patients' organs. This study aims to reduce the incidence of polypharmacy in the emergency department. We conducted a retrospective review of randomly selected medical records from the Internal Medicine Department of Taipei MacKay Emergency Department, spanning from August 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023. For cases identified as involving polypharmacy, pharmacists provided medication education using the TRM Polypharmacy Interview Guide, while social workers contacted patients via phone to recommend follow-up visits for deprescribing. Patients experiencing polypharmacy were significantly older than those on appropriate medication regimens (79.8 vs. 67.3 years, p=0.002). After deprescribing interventions, the average number of medications for polypharmacy patients was 5.9 higher than for those receiving appropriate prescriptions (9.2 vs. 3.3, p=0.001). The most common conditions associated with polypharmacy were diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and arrhythmia. Polypharmacy poses a significant medication management challenge, with affected patients taking an average of 6.9 more medications than those on appropriate treatment regimens. Our team’s resource management module successfully reduced the incidence of polypharmacy by 8.4% in the emergency department.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
