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Geriatric Conditions and the Risk of Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Adults

A Review

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Abstract

While polypathology and polypharmacy are well known risk factors for adverse drug reactions (ADRs), the association between geriatric conditions (GCs), i.e. a set of clinical and functional problems partly constitutive of and partly related to frailty, and ADRs is suspected but has not been fully elucidated. Several studies have assessed the relationship between single GCs and ADRs, but only a few studies have systematically evaluated the relationship between the whole spectrum of GCs and ADRs. The mechanism by which select GCs increase the risk of developing ADRs during a hospital stay might simply reflect a sort of general predictability of physical disability with respect to adverse outcomes. However, GCs pertaining to the physical dimension of frailty are generally associated with relevant changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of select drugs. While current evidence could not be considered either unequivocal or conclusive, select GCs, e.g. a history of falls and loss of independence in the activities of daily living, seem to define a condition of particular vulnerability of elderly patients to ADRs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Direction, Italian National Research Center on Aging (INRCA), Ancona, Italy

    Fabrizia Lattanzio, Silvia Bustacchini & Angela Marie Abbatecola

  2. Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Roma, Italy

    Francesco Landi

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Francesco Corica

  4. Unit of Intensive Rehabilitation, Italian National Research Center on Aging (INRCA), Cosenza, Italy

    Luigi Pranno

  5. Unit of Geriatric Pharmacoepidemiology, Italian National Research Center on Aging (INRCA), C.da Muoio Piccolo, I-87100, Cosenza, Italy

    Andrea Corsonello

Authors
  1. Fabrizia Lattanzio
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  2. Francesco Landi
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  3. Silvia Bustacchini
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  4. Angela Marie Abbatecola
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  5. Francesco Corica
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  6. Luigi Pranno
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  7. Andrea Corsonello
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Correspondence to Andrea Corsonello.

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Lattanzio, F., Landi, F., Bustacchini, S. et al. Geriatric Conditions and the Risk of Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Adults. Drug Saf 35 (Suppl 1), 55–61 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03319103

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