Problems of polypharmacy

Polypharmacy is common in the management of many conditions. The aim of good prescribing should be to avoid unnecessary polypharmacy.

To describe how the World Health Organisation Guide to good prescribing provides a structure for improving prescribing and avoiding polypharmacy.

Therapeutic goals should be individualized in order to use only those medicines that achieve desirable outcomes for the individual patient. Nonpharmacological approaches should be reviewed as these can result in better patient outcomes and can reduce the dose and the number of medications used. Patients should be monitored for not only the effects but also the adverse effects of prescribed medications. If an adverse reaction is found, the therapeutic approach should be reassessed and alternative approaches or medications triald rather than adding another medication to ameliorate the adverse effects of the first.