Personal medicine in long term care.
Prescribing safe and effective medications for older patients with multiple chronic diseases is a big challenge. Nursing home residents are treated with multiple medications and are at higher risk of adverse events due to polypharmacy and age-related factors. A study by Dorfman et al. 2020 included 90 nursing home residents. The study demonstrated that with pharmacogenetic testing, 114 distinct drug therapy problems were identified. Out of the 114 drug therapy problems, 29 were classified as serious. The pharmacogenetic analysis revealed that 64% of the participants were treated with antidepressants and 35% of these had altered CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 metabolism. Read more by Dorfman et al. 2020. Individualized Medication Management in Ontario Long-Term Care Clinical Impact on Management of Depression, Pain and Dementia. JAMDA 21 (2020) 823-829.
