TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Principles of Prescribing for Older Adults A1 - Steinman, Michael A. A1 - Holmes, Holly M. A2 - Williams, Brie A. A2 - Chang, Anna A2 - Ahalt, Cyrus A2 - Chen, Helen A2 - Conant, Rebecca A2 - Landefeld, C. Seth A2 - Ritchie, Christine A2 - Yukawa, Michi Y1 - 2014 N1 - T2 - Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Geriatrics, 2e AB - On the surface, prescribing for older adults is similar to prescribing for younger adults, requiring understanding of drug indications, dosing, potential adverse reactions, and drug–drug interactions. However, prescribing for older adults is complicated by a variety of factors. Physiologic changes as patients get older result in alterations in drug metabolism and susceptibility to adverse events. The presence of multiple chronic conditions and multiple medications leads to potentially complex drug–drug and drug–disease interactions, as well as the need to balance multiple competing recommendations. Changes in cognitive function, manual dexterity, and social supports complicate adherence to medications, and heterogeneous goals of care require special attention. Because clinical trials that inform many practice guidelines are often conducted in younger patients, there can be ambiguity about the extent to which these evidence-based recommendations apply to older adults. Thus, mastering prescribing for older patients requires expertise not only in technical elements of drug use, but also in synthesizing evidence and biomedical and psychosocial factors into a coordinated plan of care that meets each individual’s unique needs. More details about polypharmacy can be found in Chapter 53, and more details about extrapolating the evidence from clinical research to older patients can be found in Chapter 74. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1100065537 ER -