A large population-based study, published in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology, found that polypharmacy during the 6-month time period before IV chemotherapy is highly predictive of post-chemotherapy inpatient hospitalization.1
Given these findings, researchers indicated that they have highlighted a significant area of concern and a research area that is in need of quality improvement.
“Polypharmacy, defined as patients taking 5 or more medications, is a serious problem in patients,” Ginah Nightingale, PharmD, associate professor in the College of Pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University, said in a press release.2 “Older patients see multiple specialists, and those specialists rarely coordinate with each other to ensure that the medications are absolutely essential or weighed against a patient’s priorities. So, patients end up accumulating more than they absolutely need to…
