The magazine 60 Million Consumers, in collaboration with Open Health, a company specializing in the collection and analysis of health data, conducted a three-month survey of 155,000 people aged 65 and over called “polymedicated”, that is, taking at least 7 drugs on a regular basis.
The study showed that the consumption of drugs by seniors reaches much higher thresholds since, on average, they continuously take more than 14 different drugs. However, “a poorly controlled polypharmacy can cause falls and other severe medical accidents, hospitalizations, even death” underlines the magazine.
Risky situations encountered
• The study shows that nearly 50% of seniors have prescriptions from at least 3 different doctors. For 84% of patients, the attending physician is not the only prescriber, which entails a risk if the information is not shared between the different physicians.
• 62% of people in the cohort take antihypertensives, drugs whose prescription must be accompanied by regular monitoring rules, when we know that they can cause falls by drop in blood pressure.
• 61% consume PPIs (Proton Pump Inhibitors), drugs indicated for gastric reflux or ulcers, often off-label. However, their inappropriate consumption can cause poor absorption of nutrientsand increase the risk of diarrhea, deficiency and fractures. One study even showed that they increased the risk of a heart attack.
• Almost one in two people (47%) take benzodiazepines. However, long-term treatments with this family of drugs are generally not recommended, and more specifically in people over 65, since they induce risks of sedation, confusion, balance disorders. and even dementia.
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“In all cases, it should be known that the sensitivity of elderly subjects to the effects of drugs is often increased. These are all parameters that must be taken into account to judge the benefit / risk ratio of each drug listed on a prescription, a all the more so when the list is long “ underlines 60 million consumers who plead for better monitoring of treatments and their dosage.
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