緩和ケア病棟におけるポリファーマシーの経時的調査

抄録

Multiple drug prescriptions can lead to poor adherence to the prescription, intensification of drug interactions and side effects, and an increase in medical costs. Recently, in Japan, polypharmacy has been considered problematic in connection with aging and the explosive growth of national medical expenses, and investigative research studies have been conducted for some diseases. We investigated the number of patients who had been prescribed six or more drugs in the palliative care unit over time and found that the number of patients who had been prescribed six or more oral and external medicines decreased over time. On the other hand, the decrease was slight when injection drugs were included. In addition, the number of multiple prescriptions of oral and external medicines decreased over time in patients who had been administered opioids prior to admission to the palliative care unit and those who died compared to the patients who had not been administered opioids and those who were discharged, respectively. In Japan, polypharmacy is a problem in drug-based treatment, which needs to be addressed. Therefore, we think that our results are a useful finding in the field of palliative care.