THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPRESCRIPTION IN THE QUALITY AND LENGTH OF LIFE OF ELDERLY PEOPLE
THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPRESCRIPTION IN THE QUALITY AND LENGTH OF LIFE OF ELDERLY PEOPLE

Author(s): Ivan Lekić, Barbara Bačun, Tatjana Bačun
Subject(s): Health and medicine and law, Demography and human biology, Gerontology, Welfare services
Published by: Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku
Keywords: aging; deprescription; patient compliance; defensive medicine; multi-morbidity;
Summary/Abstract: Deprescription is a process of reducing the dose and discontinuing a drug that could be harmful to the patient or from which the patient no longer benefits. Due to aging, patients may experience more harm than good from certain medications. Medical characteristics for deprescribing include polypharmacy, multi-morbidity, renal impairment, non-adherence, limited life expectancy, older age, etc. It is necessary to determine the goal of deprescription individually for each patient. The goal may be to simplify the dosing regimen in patients with poor medication adherence. Deprescription should be considered in all patients. First, these are patients with low expected survival, older people, patients with dementia or with numerous comorbidities. Defensive medicine has a risk of unnecessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and irrationally increases the costs of health care. Deprescription is one of the ways we can improve clinical outcomes and the patient’s quality of life.

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