RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLYPHARMACY, GAIT SPEED AND FUNCTIONALITY IN ELDERLY OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT

Polypharmacy is the concurrent use of more than five different medications consumed by a person at the same time. It is related to adverse drug reactions, increased morbidity and mortality. The present descriptive study analyzed 126 patients over a period of 6 months in elderly outpatient department at the San Ignacio University Hospital in Bogotá Colombia. All patients must have polypharmacy criteria to be included. Barthel index, mini nutritional assessment and gait speed (GS) were carried out. At baseline, 68.2% were female. Polypharmacy (to use between 6 to 10 medications) was met for 103 patients (81.8%). In addition, there was extreme polypharmacy (use of more than 10 medications) in 23 (18.2%) patients. Besides, normal GS was reach only for 13% (standard measure of normality is faster than 0.8m/s). Functional evaluation measured by Barthel index demostrated independence at the ADL only for 29 (23%) subjects. Finally, in terms of comorbidities and nutritional status, 92% had more than 5 clinical conditions and only 35% had normal nutritional status. In conclusión, polypharmacy is a risk factor that could impair functionality, nutritional status and be associated with decreased GS. New studies are needed to get more information on the impact of polypharmacy in the elderly population.