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Review
. 2023 Dec 19;13(1):3.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13010003.

Drug-Related Problems in Elderly Patients Attended to by Emergency Services

Jesús Ruiz-Ramos  1   2   3 , Adrián Plaza-Diaz  1   2   3 , Cristina Roure-I-Nuez  4 , Jordi Fernández-Morató  4 , Javier González-Bueno  5   6 , María Teresa Barrera-Puigdollers  5 , Milagros García-Peláez  7 , Nuria Rudi-Sola  7 , Marta Blázquez-Andión  3   8 , Carla San-Martin-Paniello  9 , Caterina Sampol-Mayol  9 , Ana Juanes-Borrego  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Drug-Related Problems in Elderly Patients Attended to by Emergency Services

Jesús Ruiz-Ramos et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

The progressive aging and comorbidities of the population have led to an increase in the number of patients with polypharmacy attended to in the emergency department. Drug-related problems (DRPs) have become a major cause of admission to these units, as well as a high rate of short-term readmissions. Anticoagulants, antibiotics, antidiabetics, and opioids have been shown to be the most common drugs involved in this issue. Inappropriate polypharmacy has been pointed out as one of the major causes of these emergency visits. Different ways of conducting chronic medication reviews at discharge, primary care coordination, and phone contact with patients at discharge have been shown to reduce new hospitalizations and new emergency room visits due to DRPs, and they are key elements for improving the quality of care provided by emergency services.

Keywords: adverse events; elderly; emergency care; polypharmacy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main contributors and potential solutions for drug-related problems in emergency departments.
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