Report Summarizes Health and Medicine Study Findings from University of Ciencias Medicas (Deprescription in the polymedicated elderly. A reflexive look at the Cuban context)

2020 NOV 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx Drug Daily -- Research findings on health and medicine are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting from the University of Ciencias Medicas by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The excessive therapeutic interventionism promotes polypharmacy and prescription errors in the elderly. In Cuba, the polymedicated elderly is a recurrent problem; however, the information about prescription has a limited diffusion in the scientific field.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from University of Ciencias Medicas: “To describe the current knowledge about deprescription and the need for a strategy aimed at addressing the problem of the polymedicated elderly in Cuba. An extended review based on the authors’ expertise was carried out from 2003 to 2020. The search and selection criteria and the access to databases and sources indexed in Cochrane Library, SciELO, Lilacs, PubMed, Hinari, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, and Elsevier allowed us to cite 54 research works (70% updated). The final document was written on the basis of qualitative research methodology and historical-logical and analysis-synthesis approaches. Development: The term ‘deprescription’ appeared in 2003 to solve the problem of polypharmacy. It is a quaternary prevention tool that involves dismantling medication treatment with various nuances. Its rise revolutionized different work currents worldwide. Adequate scientific evidences of its need and opportunity for the best pharmacotherapeutic management in the elderly justify a design and implementation that takes into account the social determinants of each country. Some elements are suggested for the definition; the importance of geriatric pharmacology is affirmed in the face of intervention designs.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Deprescription is an inherent process of pharmacotherapeutic decisions in elderly patients attended in advanced healthcare systems. It shows a reduction of mortality, prescription of drugs and inappropriate prescriptions. The National Drug Program does not have guidelines for its implementation; therefore, to develop a strategy will be a challenge for the Cuban Public Health.”

For more information on this research see: Deprescription in the polymedicated elderly. A reflexive look at the Cuban context. Revista Habanera de Ciencias Medicas, 2020,19(3):e3416-e3416. (Revista Habanera de Ciencias Medicas - http://www.revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab). The publisher for Revista Habanera de Ciencias Medicas is Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de La Habana.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Alicia del Rosario Ramirez Perez, University of Ciencias Medicas de Cienfuegos, Departamento de Farmacologia. Cienfuegos. Additional authors for this research include Juan Antonio Furones Mourelle, Ana Maria Ramos Cedeno.

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