Impact of a Mobile Geriatric Team With a Pharmacist on the Optimisation of Prescriptions in Elderly Inpatients

Impact of a Mobile Geriatric Team With a Pharmacist on the Optimisation of Prescriptions in Elderly Inpatients

In patients aged 75 years and older, polypathology is frequent and often associated with polypharmacy. This polypharmacy coupled with a lack of proactive elderly care can sometimes lead to hospitalisation. Due to comorbidities and complex problems, management of geriatric patients usually requires a multidisciplinary approach. In Toulouse University Hospital, elderly inpatients can benefit from a geriatric assessment by a Geriatric Mobile Team. Whether this team improve the prescriptions through the advice of a clinical pharmacist has not been demonstrated yet.

All participants will be identified via the geriatrician of the mobile geriatric team with the following inclusion criteria: age ≥ 75 years, ≥ 5 medications per day and being hospitalised either in emergency room, short-stay medicine unit or in a surgery department. For each patient, the pharmacist will detect potentially inappropriate prescribing (based on explicit criteria and an implicit approach) and liaise with the geriatrician for drug optimisations. The pharmaceutical advice will be added to the geriatrician's written report, and then addressed to the relevant physician. The implementation of the proposals will be evaluated immediately at the end of hospitalisation, and then reassessed three months later by calling the patient and/or his community pharmacist. A total of 250 patients will be enrolled over a 12 month-period. The evolution of potentially inappropriate prescribing will be assessed and their cost evaluated.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient aged 75 or older
• Having 5 medications or more per day
• Being hospitalised either in emergency room, short-stay medicine unit or surgery department

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient refuses to participate
• Patient already included in another study