Polypharmacy

What it means

There is no single threshold that defines it. What matters in practice is that each prescriber sees their own prescription and nobody sees the whole list.

The risks are interactions, duplication, and medicines still being taken because nobody ever stopped them — often including ones treating the side effects of others.

Why it matters

It is a common contributor to falls and confusion, and both are frequently attributed to age instead.

It is one of the few problems in this area with a free, already-funded remedy attached.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a parent uses more than one pharmacy or more than one prescriber.
• After a hospital discharge, when new medicines are added to old ones.

Related terms

• CapacityWhether somebody is able to understand a decision and its consequences well enough to make it. It is decided decision by decision, not once and for all.
• Discharge plannerThe hospital staff member responsible for what happens after a stay ends.
• Medicare Part DMedicare's prescription drug coverage, bought as a separate plan from a private insurer.
• Medication therapy managementA Part D service that reviews everything a person takes at once, with a written summary — and enrols people automatically.
• Memory careResidential care designed for dementia — secured, higher-staffed, and more expensive than ordinary assisted living.

Official sources

The authority this page describes, at the agency that publishes it. Sahvelo does not restate a rule from a secondary source.

• National Institute on Aging — safe use of medicines (opens in a new tab)

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Medication