Syllabus
Sylabus of the subject (modules of lectures which serves also as questions for postgraduate examination)
Modul I:- Polypharmacotherapy- causes, risk factors, prevalence on national and international level, negative outcomes
Modul II.- Geriatric syndromes I. - causes, risk factors, diagnostics, complications, relationship to polypharmacotherapy
Modul III.- Geriatric syndromes II. - causes, risk factors, diagnostics, complications, relationship to polypharmacotherapy
Modul IV.- Specific features of druh-related geriatric syndromes, geriatric drug-disease interactions
Modul V.- Theory of combined drug regimens and importance of pharmacokinetic (particularly metabolic) a farmacodynamic interactions for estimation of clinically-significant risks of pharmacotherapy
Modul VI. Specif features of low-dose drug regimens in the old age, importance for the management of polypharmacotherapy
Modul VII.- Prescribing cascades and other risk factors leading to multiple drug regimens- evidence from epidemiological studies
Modul VIII.-Classification systems and expert explicite criteria of potentially inappropriate medicatsions in the old age (PIMs)
Modul IX.- Important national and European initiatives and projects targeted to reduction of risky polypharmacotherapy in the old age
Modul X.- Ageing of the world population, prolongation of life-expectancy, phenomenon of risky polypharmacotherapy and possiblities of reduction of risky polypharmacotherapy
Annotation
Polypharmacotherapy in the old age and risks of multiple drug regimens belong to significant clinical phenomena that require specific postgraduate knowledge and skills in the field of clinical pharmacy in geriatrics. The risks and management of polypharmacy have a high impact on the quality of healthcare and healthcare systems. With the ageing of the world population and raising prevalence of polymorbidity, the importance of knowledge and skills regarding clinical principles of the individualization of combined drug regimens in older patients and management of polypharmacy is increasing.
Management of polypharmacy (which is the most frequent phenomena in geriatric patients and particularly in this cohort it contributes to negative outcomes) includes detail knowledge of clinical pharmacy and geriatrics for diagnostics and solution of specific problems. And, knowledge on the prevalence, risk factors and negative outcomes of polypharmacy as well.
Therefore, this postgraduate subject is primarily established as a clinical subject that extend the postgraduate knowledge of students in the evaluation and individualization of combined drug regimens with the aim to reduce the risky polypharmacotherapy in older patients (1). It extends the postgraduate knowledge and skills of students necessary for qualified evaluation of benefit and risks of combined drug regimens in geriatric patients with the effort to reduce negative outcomes of polypharmacotherapy. Polyfarmacotherapy is the most frequent phenomenon in geriatric patients and in geriatrics has a lot of specific features. For this reason this subject will also emphasize the importance of specific knowledge of geriatrics (2)- specific features of geriatric pharmacotherapy (selection and individualization of drug regimens in the old age) and how to respect geriatric principles in older users of combined drug regimes. At the final block of knowledge (3), the subject will include the importance of evidence from epidemiological studies on positive and negative outcomes of reducing polypharmacotherapy in older adults, where positive outputs were documented only if clinical specialists skilled in geriatrics interveening in polypharmacy regimens were involved and specific geriatric approaches and principles respected.
The postgraduate subject will help to generate postgraduate absolvents experienced in major clinical and epidemiological aspects of polypharmacotherapy in geriatric patients having important expertise for future healthcare systems that already face to extensive increase in proportion of geriatric patients and overall increase in the prevalence of polypharmacotherapy.