Individual burden

People taking multiple medicines in the long term develop their own strategies forfitting them into their daily routines. But some people struggle physically with the burden of taking many medicines and others may feel they have no control over whether and how they use them.

Long-term medicines use has been shown to have a negative effect on patients' quality of life and as many as 50 per cent of people on long-term medicines don't take them as intended. A patient who believes that the benefits of their medicine will be outweighed by the personal cost €“ including time, side effects, stigma and expense €“ is less likely to take them. It is important to engage patients in discussions about their treatment goals and what factors would be acceptable or unacceptable to them.

There may need to be a compromise to achieve treatment goals within the limits of what is acceptable to an individual patient. Finding out how people feel about their medicine is a key step in a person-centred consultation.

Hospital admissions

Taking multiple medicines has been found to increase unplanned admissions to hospital for patients with a single medical condition. A study found the risk of hospital admissions increased by 25 per cent for someone taking four to six medicines, and by 300 per cent for those taking 10 or more medicines.

For patients who had multiple medical conditions, however, the effect of polypharmacy on hospital admissions was not as great. Patients with six or more medical conditions were 25 per cent more likely to have an unplanned hospital admission if they were taking 10 or more medicines.