Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
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Efficient drug use for women at Aged Care Facility

Approved: 2015

Collaborators:

  • Mr Mahmoud Galal
  • Prof Annette Dobson
  • Prof Julie Byles
  • Dr Mark Jones

Synopsis

l want to study the efficiency of drug use for elderly women in aged care facilities compared with those living independently in community seeing. Inefficient drug use can be: ?Less compliance or poor adherence to prescribed medications, which can affect patient’s health and quality of life, and can lead to increased hospitalisation. ?Over dispensing of medications “e.g. patient’s actual need is 30 tablets per month, but dispensing history shows 60 tablets had been dispensed”. Almost all of the prescribed medications are subsidised by Australian government through PBS, and over dispensing can lead to wasting government money, this can happen due to unorganized dose administration aid 'DAA' systems in nursing homes. ?Drug?Drug interactions. In patients with several conditions, provision of care by multiple physicians and application of recommendations from multiple single disease clinical guidelines can result in complex multiple drug regimens (polypharmacy) with the potential for harmful combinations of drugs, which can adversely affect patient’s health and increase hospitalisation.