ArticleBMC public health2023
Disentangling concepts of inappropriate polypharmacy in old age: a scoping review.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Criteria to Report Adverse Drug Withdrawal Events in Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of polypharmacy and drug interactions in geriatric patients: A cross-sectional study from India.PloS one · 2026Article
- PolyPIMuse significantly increases fall risk: comparison of three medication evaluation tools.Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
- Artificial intelligence-driven risk prediction of polypharmacy in older adults: current advances, clinical applications, and future perspectives.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Pharmacovigilance Signal Detection of Drug-Induced Hospitalizations and Mortality: A 5-Year Nationwide Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessing the Impact of Pharmacist-Led Interventions in an Academic Pain Clinic: Clinical Outcomes and Interprofessional Insights.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- Pharmacists' attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration to optimise medication use in older patients in Switzerland: a survey study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Polypharmacy and Elevated Risk of Severe Adverse Events in Older Adults Based on the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management-Korea Adverse Event Reporting System Database.Journal of Korean medical science · 2024Article
- Association between number of medications and indicators of potentially inappropriate polypharmacy: a population-based cohort of older adults in Quebec, Canada.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2024Article
- The association between continuous polypharmacy and hospitalization, emergency department visits, and death in older adults: a nationwide large cohort study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- The core symptom in multiple myeloma patients undergoing chemotherapy: a network analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPolypharmacy is a common concern, especially in the older population. In some countries more that 50% of all individuals over 60 receive five or more drugs, most often due to multimorbidity and increased longevity. However, polypharmacy is associated with multiple adverse events, and more medication may not always be the answer. The terms "appropriate" and "inappropriate" are often used to distinguish between "much" and "too much" medications in relation to polypharmacy in research and practice, but no explicit definition exists to describe what these terms encompass. The aim of this review is to unfold the different understandings of and perspectives on (in)appropriate polypharmacy and suggest a framework for further research and practice.
methodA scoping review was conducted using the framework of Arksey and O'Malley and Levac et al. Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane database, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for references in English, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish using the search string "Polypharmacy" AND "Appropriate" OR "Inappropriate". Data was extracted on author information, aims and objectives, methodology, study population and setting, country of origin, main findings and implications, and all text including the words "appropriate," "inappropriate," and "polypharmacy." Qualitative meaning condensation analysis was used and data charted using descriptive and thematic analysis.
resultsOf 3982 references, a total of 92 references were included in the review. Most references were from 2016-2021, from fields related to medicine or pharmacy, and occurred within primary and secondary healthcare settings. Based on the qualitative analysis, a framework were assembled consisting of Context, three domains (Standardization, Practices and Values & Concerns) and Patient Perspective.
conclusionInappropriate polypharmacy is a concept loaded by its heterogeneity and the usefulness of a single definition is doubtful. Instead, the framework suggested in this article representing different dimensions of inappropriate polypharmacy may serve as an initial strategy for focusing research and practice on polypharmacy in old age.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.