Assessment and Management of Multiple Drug Use in Elderly Chronic Disease Patients

Assessing the current status of polypharmacy in elderly patients with chronic diseases in Shaanxi Province via cluster sampling questionnaire survey

时间窗: Start from enrollment to the end of the study at 2 years.

A cluster sampling method was used to conduct a survey on elderly patients with chronic diseases in Shaanxi Province. A questionnaire survey was conducted in different regional locations to collect detailed medication information from patients, such as the number of chronic diseases (types), the types of medications used (types), specific drug names, medication costs (yuan), and duration of medication use (months). Medication habits, such as whether the medication is prescribed by a hospital, purchased from a pharmacy, recommended by friends, or promoted through advertisements, etc. Specific items include concerns about drugs and current physical discomforts. A 5-point Likert scale was adopted, where 1 point indicates "strongly disagree" and 5 points indicate "strongly agree". After questionnaire collection, combined with Beers, STOPP/START, and Chinese elderly PIM criteria, a polypharmacy evaluation and management strategy for these patients was developed.