Navigation Links
Confusion Over Drug Dosing Common for Seniors
Date:2/28/2011

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Instructions for taking medications are often so vague that older patients, sometimes taking an average of seven pills a day, may take their drugs incorrectly, a new study finds.

Moreover, many patients don't realize that they can take several medications at once. Standardized, simple instructions that will make dosing times easy to grasp are sorely needed, the researchers added.

"When given the task of taking multiple medications, people unnecessarily complicated the regimen," said lead researcher Michael Wolf, an associate professor of medicine and learning sciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Wolf noted that many older people are taking as many as seven different drugs a day. "People took medicine more times a day than they needed to," he said.

The report is published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

For the study, Wolf's team talked to 464 patients aged 55 to 74. Although most of the patients were well-educated, roughly half didn't have strong "health literacy skills," the researchers noted.

Health literacy is the ability to understand the information that patients are given about their health, the drugs they are supposed to take and their ability to perform skills related to their health, Wolf said.

"There have been studies over the past two decades that linked poor health literacy to poorer outcomes and worse mortality rates," he said.

After giving patients a seven-drug regimen, they found that people were often taking drugs up to 14 times a day, Wolf said. "We are arguing they shouldn't have taken them more than four times a day," he noted.

Patients need to find the most efficient way of taking their drugs by consolidating their regimen, Wolf explained.

"We found that when people were given two medicines with the exact
'/>"/>

Copyright©2010 ScoutNews,LLC.
All rights reserved  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related medicine news :

1. Mother Talks of the Anger, Confusion and Grief of a SIDS Death
2. Cancer news articles may contribute to confusion about cancer
3. Mammogram Guidelines Still Beget Confusion
4. Healthcare Reform Confusion May Create Coverage Gap for College Graduates
5. Cough Syrup Might Help With Dosing of Breast Cancer Drug
6. SDI Reports: Roughly Half of Patients Prescribed the Most Popular Osteoporosis Drugs Discontinue Therapy Within 6 Months -- Amgen's Prolia Offers New Dosing Option
7. Hearing Loss Common Among Middle-Aged Adults: Study
8. $1.9 million NIH grant supports research in the most common soft tissue tumor in children
9. Weight loss improves knee pain from common arthritic condition, study says
10. Common hip disorder can cause sports hernia
11. Study shows PRP, commonly used technique to improve healing, doesnt work in rotator cuff surgery
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Confusion Over Drug Dosing Common for Seniors
(Date:5/23/2013)... May 23, 2013 Netsmart today ... 100 listing of healthcare information technology (HIT) providers for 2013. ... 2013 issue of Healthcare Informatics magazine. Netsmart’s ranking ... , “Our strong continued growth is largely due to our ... tumultuous period of healthcare where resources are scarce, the demand ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Hormones drive many aspects of our lives: ... sleep quality, sex drive, how productive we are, soft skin ... driven by declining hormone levels as we age. , The ... abundant foundation or base from which the body makes hormones. ... about age 25, when we are “in our prime”; and ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 23, 2013 Each month Dwell magazine ... stylish eco-friendly hybrids and electric cars. Nowhere in America are ... the symbolic green car capital. Thankfully this June, Green Car ... and drive back to Dwell on Design 2013 ... During the first two days of Dwell on Design, June ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... CNIC researchers have discovered that the daily clearance of ... stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, ... Cell ., Neutrophils are leukocytes (white blood cells) ... other disease organisms. To perform their function, these cells ... microorganisms. However, release of these substances in the wrong ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... May 23, 2013 Professional Insurance Plans, ... the nation to celebrate Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month. ... chiropractors across the country, the agency feels that it ... of this syndrome that affects an estimated 10 million ... Association , the definition of Fibromyalgia (FM) is, “a ...
Breaking Medicine News(10 mins):Health News:Netsmart Named to Healthcare Informatics Top 100 List 2Health News:Health2Go Announces Research That DHEA Helps Depression 2Health News:Health2Go Announces Research That DHEA Helps Depression 3Health News:Health2Go Announces Research That DHEA Helps Depression 4Health News:Dwell Media and Green Car Journal Put You in the Driver Seat At Dwell on Design 2013 2Health News:Dwell Media and Green Car Journal Put You in the Driver Seat At Dwell on Design 2013 3Health News:Dwell Media and Green Car Journal Put You in the Driver Seat At Dwell on Design 2013 4Health News:Dwell Media and Green Car Journal Put You in the Driver Seat At Dwell on Design 2013 5Health News:Discarded immune cells induce the relocation of stem cells 2Health News:Professional Insurance Plans Encourages the Nation to Celebrate Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month 2
... discussed at the 2009 AANS MeetingATLANTA, April 30 ... Annual Meeting, May 4-6 at the San Diego Convention ... latest line of stereotactic treatment solutions is addressing some ... today. Local Control of Brain Mets , Recent ...
... Mass., April 30 Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ... April 24, 2009 it entered into an Amendment to ... to which the license agreement between the Company and ... March 2007 (the Cethrin License) was further amended. ...
... Production of a Swine Flu Vaccine in a Few WeeksMERIDEN, Conn., ... based in Meriden, CT, announced today that stockholders elected a new ... 2009 Annual Meeting, held on April 28, 2009. Those Directors are:, ... Daniel D. Adams, who has been CEO since July 1996, President ...
... to address access to healthy food and physical ... exceptional leadership WASHINGTON, April 30 Eleven of ... a host of comprehensive policy strategies and environmental ... the childhood obesity epidemic. Their support will be ...
... Access to Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Home Care and Adult ... RICHMOND, Va., April 30 The cost of ... outpacing inflation, putting significant financial pressure on those in or ... At the same time, the current economic downturn has ...
... Home, Assisted Living, Home Care and Adult Day Health Care ... The cost of long term care in ... financial pressure on those in or near retirement, according to ... time, the current economic downturn has led to a decline ...
Cached Medicine News:Health News:Elekta Radiosurgery Solutions are Creating New Possibilities for the Most Challenging Cases of the Head And Body 2Health News:Elekta Radiosurgery Solutions are Creating New Possibilities for the Most Challenging Cases of the Head And Body 3Health News:Alseres and BioAxone Amend License Agreement for Cethrin(R) and Rho Inhibitor Technology 2Health News:Alseres and BioAxone Amend License Agreement for Cethrin(R) and Rho Inhibitor Technology 3Health News:Alseres and BioAxone Amend License Agreement for Cethrin(R) and Rho Inhibitor Technology 4Health News:Protein Sciences Corporation Appoints New Board of Directors 2Health News:Top Policy Groups Take Action to Create Healthy Communities, Prevent Childhood Obesity 2Health News:Top Policy Groups Take Action to Create Healthy Communities, Prevent Childhood Obesity 3Health News:Top Policy Groups Take Action to Create Healthy Communities, Prevent Childhood Obesity 4Health News:Growth in Wisconsin Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 2Health News:Growth in Wisconsin Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 3Health News:Growth in Wisconsin Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 4Health News:Growth in Virginia Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 2Health News:Growth in Virginia Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 3Health News:Growth in Virginia Long Term Care Costs Outpacing the Rate of Inflation, According to Annual Genworth Financial Study 4
(Date:5/23/2013)... Massachusetts , May 23, 2013 ... Solutions™, announced today that the prize for ,Best Novel ... Systems and Medical Emergency Teams International Conference, hosted this ... Physicians, was awarded to a clinical research team studying ... at California Hospital in Los Angeles ...
(Date:5/23/2013)...  Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc., an emerging leader in ... present new results on its antiviral program to ... the PML Consortium (composed of Pfizer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, ... the causative agent of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). ... extended release formulation, can clear JC polyomavirus (JCV) ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... May 23, 2013   BioLife Solutions , Inc. ... clinical grade hypothermic storage and cryopreservation ... contract aseptic media manufacturer , today announced its participation ... Medicine Congress 2013 this week in ... Dr. Aby J. Mathew, BioLife,s Senior Vice ...
Breaking Medicine Technology:Clinical Team Researching the Impact of the EarlySense System Wins 'Best Novel Idea' Prize at the Rapid Response Systems and Medical Emergency Teams 2013 8th International Conference 2Clinical Team Researching the Impact of the EarlySense System Wins 'Best Novel Idea' Prize at the Rapid Response Systems and Medical Emergency Teams 2013 8th International Conference 3Clinical Team Researching the Impact of the EarlySense System Wins 'Best Novel Idea' Prize at the Rapid Response Systems and Medical Emergency Teams 2013 8th International Conference 4Inhibikase Therapeutics to present at Industry Conference on Drug-Induced Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) 2BioLife Solutions Announces Presentation at 8th World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2BioLife Solutions Announces Presentation at 8th World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress 3
... Western Blot analysis ... Blot Analyzer for many applications including the ... of infectious diseases such as viruses and ... screening of allergies and other application areas ...
... Antigen-Antibody Pens-Using a proprietary and patented technology, ... pens, called Antigen-Antibody pens-TM, that will allow ... membranes in any form or shape or ... helps to see antigen being written on ...
... the Antigen-Antibody Pens-Using a proprietary and patented ... fountain pens, called Antigen-Antibody pens-TM, that will ... blotting membranes in any form or shape ... dyes helps to see antigen being written ...
... the Antigen-Antibody Pens-Using a proprietary and patented ... fountain pens, called Antigen-Antibody pens-TM, that will ... blotting membranes in any form or shape ... dyes helps to see antigen being written ...
Medicine Products: