RT Journal Article
T1 Health professionals perception and beliefs about drug- related problems on polymedicated older adults- a focus group study
A1 Plácido, Ana Isabel
A1 Herdeiro, Maria Teresa Ferreira
A1 Simões, João Lindo
A1 Amaral, Odete
A1 Figueiras Guzmán, Adolfo
A1 Roque, Fátima
K1 Health professionals
K1 Polypharmacy
K1 Drug-related problems
K1 Medication management
K1 Older adults
AB Background: Polymedicated older patients are at greater risk of suffering from adverse events. For this reason, the detection of both inappropriate polypharmacy and polypharmacy-associated Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) are essential to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults and to reduce healthcare costs. This work aims to explore health professionals’ perceptions and opinions about polypharmacy and the handling of medicines by polymedicated older adults.Methods: Thirteen focus groups with 94 health professionals (20 community pharmacists, 40 general practitioners and, 34 nurses) were conducted in primary healthcare centers of the center region of Portugal. Participants were asked to discuss their perceptions and beliefs concerning DRPs in polymedicated older adults. The sessions were audiotaped. After the transcription and coding of focus group sessions, a thematic analysis was done.Results: The following four main themes emerged from the 13 focus group sessions: poor compliance and polypharmacy- A perpetuated vicious cycle, organization of the healthcare system, interaction and communication between the health professionals, and strategies to prevent inappropriate polypharmacy.Conclusions: The lack of both an efficient network of information and Interaction and communication between Health professionals makes the detection and/ or prevention of polypharmacy in older adults difficult. The implementation of new models to manage and/or prevent polypharmacy based on health professional perception and beliefs is essential to prevent DRPs and improve compliance among older adults
PB Springer Nature
SN 1471-2318
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/24389
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/24389
LA eng
NO Plácido, A.I., Herdeiro, M.T., Simões, J.L. et al. Health professionals perception and beliefs about drug- related problems on polymedicated older adults- a focus group study. BMC Geriatr 21, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01972-3
NO This work was financially supported by the MedElderly project [SAICT-POL/23585/2016], funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT/MCTES), Portugal 2020 and Centro 2020 grants; and, by the APIMedOlder project [PTDC/MED-FAR/31598/2017], funded by the operational programme of competitiveness and internationalization (POCI), in its FEDER/FNR component POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031598, and the Foundation for Science and Technology, in its state budget component (OE)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026