Evaluation of Polypharmacy in Elderly Individuals in the Scope of Family Medicine Elderly Patient Follow-up

The aim of our study is to determine drug-drug interactions in patients aged 65 and over who are exposed to polypharmacy by using the Ministry of Health Hospital Medulla System, and to raise awareness to take clinical precautions in patients with serious interactions. Our study was carried out on 188 patients over the age of 65 who were receiving service from the Family Health Center No. 1 in Gebze and included in the Disease Management Platform database. The results of the follow-up and evaluation of the elderly over 65 years of age, the Lexicomb® drug interaction module, and the drugs used chronically by the patients were listed and their interaction levels were evaluated. In addition, the criteria used in the evaluation of inappropriate drug use in the elderly are also discussed. According to our study results, a total of 529 potential drug-drug interactions were detected in 167 patients. No known interaction was detected in 52 (9.8%) of 529 interactions and the risk category was determined as A. The number of drug-drug interactions in the B, C, D and X risk categories were 74 (13,9%), 363 (68,6%), 33 (6,2%) and 7 (1,3%), respectively. A diagnosis of essential hypertension was present in 54% of the patients in the study. The most commonly used drug was acetylsalicylic acid (26%). The fact that the drug-drug interaction potential in category C is significantly higher than our data highlights the necessity of monitoring the treatment of patients more regularly and effectively. Drug-drug interactions detected in categories D and X mostly occurred between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antihypertensive drugs, antipellet drugs, and central nerves system drugs. Particular attention should be paid to the follow-up of these drugs.