ArticleJournal of pharmaceutical health care and sciences2026
Impact of community pharmacists on improving polypharmacy in elderly outpatients: a community-based intervention study.
Article in Journal of pharmaceutical health care and sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPolypharmacy, defined as the inappropriate use of multiple concomitant medications, represents a major concern in elderly care and is associated with drug-drug interactions, adverse effects, and poor medication adherence. Previous studies have emphasized the importance of proactive pharmacist involvement in addressing polypharmacy. However, evidence regarding patient outcomes following pharmaceutical interventions remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate whether community pharmacists could contribute to optimizing medication therapy among elderly patients living in the community. Pharmaceutical interventions targeting polypharmacy were implemented with consideration of patient characteristics and caregiver perspectives.
methodsQuestionnaire surveys were conducted among elderly patients receiving six or more daily medications and among caregivers, including helpers and visiting nurses. Cases involving potentially inappropriate prescriptions were identified in elderly outpatients, and deprescribing proposals were communicated to the respective prescribing physicians with patient consent. Follow-up assessments were conducted at least four weeks after intervention in patients whose medications had been deprescribed.
resultsAmong elderly respondents, 32.7% expressed a desire to reduce the number of oral medications. Caregivers frequently reported challenges associated with patients receiving multiple prescriptions. Following pharmacist-led interventions, the number of prescribed medications decreased, particularly within the gastrointestinal and pain medication categories. Most patients reported no worsening of symptoms, and some indicated that medication administration had become easier.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that community pharmacists may contribute to improving the quality of medication therapy in elderly outpatients through community-based interventions targeting polypharmacy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.