Pensioners, women and the poor are being prescribed more drugs than they may need, new research revealed on Monday.
A staggering 64.3% of the 794,628 people in the national study were taking five or more medications at any one time.
This translates into 510,846 people who were prescribed at least five drugs, the joint study from UCD, Trinity College and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland revealed.
Taking too many medications at the same time can potentially cause serious harm.
It can increase the risk of developing adverse drug reactions, hospitalisation, poor quality of life and in some cases, death.
People can also feel overwhelmed by the number of drugs they have to take and stop taking them regularly.
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Taking a number of drugs can also place a huge financial burden on individuals and the healthcare system as a whole, the study warned.
Women and poor people were most likely to be over-prescribed medications.
Of the women surveyed, 67% of them were on at least five medications at the same time, compared with 60.8% of the men. This translates into 293,886 women versus 216,444 men.
Those in the lowest economic and education levels were twice as likely to be taking multiple medications, compared with those in the highest wealth and education bracket.
The study, which looked at people aged 45 and older who received medication under the HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Services, showed that people were more likely to take multiple medications as they got older.
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Of the 45-55 year olds in the study, who made up the youngest group, 38.6% were on more than five drugs, compared with 82.6% of those aged 75 years.
This is a worrying trend, say the study authors, as elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of taking multiple medications, referred to as polypharmacy.
Rates of polypharmacy have risen steadily in Ireland in the last few years, due to the availability of new treatments and the earlier treatment of certain conditions.
Better access to free medications and patients’ expectations of the GPs have also contributed to the prescription increase.
Policies need to be developed in order to ensure that multiple medicines are only prescribed to those who actually need them, the study argues.
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For the study, the HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Services pharmacy claims database for the GMS eligible population in 2013 was used.
The research was conducted by Dr Travis Tatum and colleagues at the UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, as well as Dr Philip Curry of the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and Prof Kathleen Bennett of the RCSI Population and Health Sciences at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
The study called for a review of current policies regarding drug prescription.
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In response, the Irish Pharmacy Union called for the introduction of Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) to Ireland.
Used in Scotland, England and a number of other Western countries, MURs help pharmacists and doctors assess which prescriptions are actually needed - which in turn improves patients’ lives and reduce costs.
“MURs conducted by pharmacists in Scotland with elderly patients who take multiple medicines have reduced hospital readmission rates for those patients by more than 30 per cent,” a spokesperson for the IPU told the Irish Daily Mirror.
“This has resulted in improved quality of life for those individuals and dramatic savings in the cost of their healthcare,” the IPU spokesperson added.
