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Farm Comunitarios. 2022 Apr 26;14(2):27-33. doi: 10.33620/FC.2173-9218.(2022/Vol14).002.05

Anticholinergic burden assessment in polymedicated elderly patients in a nursing home

Gastelurrutia Soto B, Gastelurrutia MA1, 2, Calvo B2
1. Farmacéutica/o comunitaria/o en San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa) 2. Pharmacy Practice Research Group. Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU.
Gastelurrutia B, Gastelurrutia MA, Calvo B. Anticholinergic burden assessment in polymedicated elderly patients in a nursing home. Farm Comunitarios. 2022 Apr 26;14(2):27-33. doi: 10.33620/FC.2173-9218.(2022/Vol14).002.05
Abstract : 

As the population ages, pluripathology, polymedication and the dependency and frailty situations increase. This is why monitoring drug´s security becomes more important.

In elderly patients, the anticholinergic effects of many drugs can significantly affect the quality of life.

Objectives: To assess the anticholinergic burden (ACB) in a sample of polymedicated patients in a nursing home, in addition to: (a) study the drugs that add ACB, (b) categorize the level of polymedication in the residents of the nursing home, and (c) identify the drugs more frequently implicated in the ACB.

Results: The ACB of the 144 patients in a residence for the elderly was analyzed on the 31st of march of 2020. The patients (mean age: 86.86 ±8.35 years; men 35,4%, women 64,6%) took a mean of 10.64 ±4.46 drugs, of which 60% were generic. The ACB increases as the amount/number of drugs´ (D) use increases; so that in the 1-5 D category it was 1.11; in the 6-10 D it was 2.13; in the 11-15 D it was 2.79 and in patients with more than 15 D it was/reached the 3.08. Only 27 patients didn´t have ACB (18.8%), where 8 were men (6,3%) and 18 women (12,5%).

Conclusions: Assessing ACB it´s a good strategy for the community pharmacists to contribute to the optimization of pharmacotherapy and the consequent improvement of the quality of life of the polymedicated elderly, through medication review and/or deprescription of this type of drugs. More research is needed in this area.

Keywords : 
Polypharmacy, polymedication, frailty, anticholinergic burden, community pharmacist

Editor: © SEFAC. Sociedad Española de Farmacia Clínica, Familiar y Comunitaria. 
Copyright© SEFAC. Sociedad Española de Farmacia Clínica, Familiar y Comunitaria. This article is available from url https://www.farmaceuticoscomunitarios.org/. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en

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