Older persons' experiences regarding evaluation of their medication treatment-An interview study in Sweden

Older persons with polypharmacy are at increased risk of harm from medications, and this issue is a global patient safety challenge. Harm may arise at all stages of medication use and may cause hospital admission, additional resource utilization and lower patient satisfaction. Older persons' participation in their own care may increase patient safety. Their views on the evaluation of their medication treatment, and their own involvement in it, are crucial yet poorly understood.

To identify opportunities to make the medication use process safer, we explored and described older persons' experiences of evaluation of their medication treatment.

Semi-structured interviews were performed with 20 community-dwelling older persons (age 75-91 years) in Sweden. Data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.

These older persons reported having a responsibility to engage in their medication evaluations, although some felt unable to do so or considered themselves unconcerned. Evaluation, in their experience, was facilitated by continuity of care and an invitation to participate. However, some older persons experienced not receiving a comprehensive medication evaluation.

Older persons want to be actively involved in their medication evaluations, and this may represent an underutilized resource in the pursuit of patient safety. Their trust in physicians to undertake evaluations on a regular basis, although that does not necessarily occur, may cause harm. Patient safety could benefit from a co-production approach to medication evaluations, with health-care professionals explicitly sharing information with older persons and agreeing on responsibilities related to on-going medication treatment.