Understanding, investigating and addressing polypharmacy in residential aged care facilities

Polypharmacy is common in older people, contributing to medication errors, hospitalisations and mortality. This thesis explores Australian and international data to understand, investigate and address polypharmacy in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). It identifies a high and variable prevalence of polypharmacy, medication classes that contribute to polypharmacy, and explores a potential link between polypharmacy and medication errors resulting in deaths. This thesis also examines cardiovascular medication use over time, identifying more conservative prescribing in Finnish residents with dementia and coronary heart disease. Findings from this thesis contribute to a better understanding of polypharmacy, required for the development of interventions to address increasing polypharmacy in RACFs.