Considering Frailty in Optimising Medicine Use
摘要
Frailty is a geriatric syndrome associated with poor health outcomes such as disability and death. Frail older people are at increased risk of adverse drug events due to several factors, including high rates of polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications, frailty and ageing-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. This is further complicated by the limited representation of frail adults in clinical trials.Frailty is an important factor to consider in an older individual’s medication management process. Frail older people may benefit from a more frequent and thorough review of medications, which may include deprescribing medications that are associated with more risks than potential benefits. In this chapter, we provide an overview of frailty and discuss the challenges related to medication use in the context of frailty.