Polyfarmacie bij ouderen: Wat gaat er mis en hoe kan het beter?

Optimization of prescribing in cases of polypharmacy is a challenging job for physicians due to an increased risk on adverse drug events, such as interactions, side effects, contra-indications, and dispensing and administration errors. Especially older patients are vulnerable to adverse drug events due to changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and erroneous use of medication based on cognitive impairment or physical disability (e.g. difficulty with swallowing). Adverse drug events can be prevented by performing medication reviews. The recently developed guideline 'Polypharmacy in older patients' advices on which patients to select for a medication review. The Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing (STRIP) is part of the guideline and is a practical tool to perform a mediation review. For further reduction of adverse drug events communication between health care providers and patients is essential, especially at times of patient transition between health care settings.