Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion

Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion

Select a special population (e.g., pediatrics, geriatrics, pregnancy, lactation). Select a route of administration (e.g., oral, IV, subcutaneous, IM, transdermal, rectal, inhalation, SL) and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this administration route. Give an example of a medication administered by your chosen route and a good patient candidate or rationale for choosing your given route of administration. Take into consideration guidelines that apply to medication administration in your special population (e.g., Beer’s criteria, pregnancy and lactation categories) and discuss why you selected these guidelines. Discuss the issue of polypharmacy in the population you select. Include the name of the medication in the subject line so that the medications can be followed. Make sure you choose a different medication from your peers. Include references in APA format.
Choose Population: geriatrics
Route of administration: IV Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion

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The selected population is geriatrics. Elderly adults are prescribed various medications to manage or treat age-related illnesses whose risk increases with aging (Jaul & Barron, 2017). Prescribing drugs to older adults is challenging since this population is excluded in most premarketing drug trials. Additionally, the approved drugs lack appropriate dosing for older adults. Therefore, healthcare providers should take extra care when prescribing drugs to geriatrics to avoidable adverse drug events (ADEs)Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion. According to Rochon and Schmader (2019), ADEs are serious consequences that result from inappropriate drug prescribing. ADEs are more common in geriatrics than in other populations due to age-related changes in pharmacokinetics.

Intravenous (IV) is selected as the route of drug administration. Administering drugs through IV has advantages and disadvantages. In IV, a drug solution is introduced into the blood directly via the vein. Thus, a drug administered through this route is delivered to the body accurately and rapidly since the drug gets into systemic circulation directly without the delay due to slow absorption processes, resulting in a faster therapeutic effect. Additionally, IV presents a 100% bioavailability. However, administering a drug via IV is likely to cause a high concentration of drugs in the blood, leading to ADEs. Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion

An example of a drug administered via IV is hydromorphone, which is a pain reliever. IV is preferred as administration root if the volume of the drug being administered is relatively high and if the drug is in emulsion form. Guidelines applicable to medication administration in the geriatric population are the beers criteria. These guidelines recommend close monitoring of drug use in the geriatric population. Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple medications by a patient. In the US, polypharmacy is common among elderly adults. According to, the prevalence of polypharmacy among geriatrics in the United States is approximately 39.0%. This trend is associated with a high incidence of age-related diseases among elderly adults.

References

Jaul, E., & Barron, J. (2017). Age-related diseases and clinical and public health implications for the 85 years old and overpopulation. Frontiers in public health, 5, 335. Doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00335 Drug Prescribing For Older Adults Discussion

Rezende, G. R. D., Amaral, T. L. M., Amaral, C. D. A., Vasconcellos, M. T. L. D., & Monteiro, G. T. R. (2021). Prevalence of polypharmacy and associated factors in older adults living in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: a cross-sectional population-based study, 2014. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, 30. Doi: 10.1590/S1679-49742021000200013

Rochon, P. A., & Schmader, K. E. (2019). Drug prescribing for older adults. Toronto: UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/drug-prescribing-for-older-adults