Appropriate Medication Use in Individuals Aged 80 or More Years

¹ Laboratoires Lundbeck SAS, Paris, France
² Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé (Afssaps), Saint-Denis, France
³ Les Entreprises du Médicament, Paris, France

Abstract

Over the last few years, there has been a rapid and steadily expanding demographic explosion in the elderly population in France. When the most dynamic segment of this growth is considered, i.e. patients aged 80 years or more (who, moreover, usually have several diseases), under- or over-prescribing and/or inappropriate prescribing are identified. Three short- and medium-term recommendations are proposed: to quickly get expert consensus on the theme of prescribing for the aged patient; to integrate systematic drug re-evaluation into annual consultations for people aged 80 years or more; and to better coordinate actions and communication between institutions, health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry.