Development of Hospital Formulary for Geriatric Patients: A Review

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue VIII, August 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705

Development of Hospital Formulary for Geriatric Patients: A Review

Nima Krishnan¹, Danisha P², Suhaila P K^1
1Department of Pharmacy Practice, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy, Kizhattur, Malappuram, Kerala, India
²Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy Kizhattur, Malappuram, Kerala, India

Abstract: Providing the maximum safe and effective medication at the right time to the patient is the prime aphorism of all the health care setting. It can be done by the continuous updation and reviewing the informations about a medication. For hospital settings these informations can be authenticated and encompassed and it is known as hospital formulary. According to WHO hospital formulary is “a manual containing clinically oriented summaries of pharmacological information about selected drugs” [2].Formulary enumerating is an evidence based system which helps the physician to find out the correct medication with accurate dose determination. Such type of prescribing is known as rational prescribing. Geriatric patients are the patients who are in the age group of sixty five and above. So they have to experience a number of medical conditions together it is known as multiple co morbidities. As a result they have to administer so several medications together it is known as polypharmacy. It leads to increased burden of pills. The polypharmacy and inappropriate medications are the major route of medication errors in geriatric patients. The precise and up to date informations about the drugs used in such patients are necessary for achieving the therapeutic goal of improved patient safety and medication adherences.

key words: Hospital formulary, prescription, polypharmacy, medication errors.

I. INTRODUCTION

Hospital formulary is the record which contains all the clinically significant pharmacological information regarding drugs which are used in particular hospital settings in various departments. Drugs are the chemicals which are used in small amounts for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of diseases. The arrangement of hospital formulary is one of the important responsibility of pharmacy and therapeutic committee, because it is highly important to achieve the concise knowledge about the all drugs which are used especially pharmacological classification, therapeutic classification, dose and dosage, warning and precaution, special population details, adverse drug reaction, contraindication, overdose and treatment etc. Patients were suffered from a number of medication errors including inappropriate medications, ineffective medication and also poor quality medicines.

Read More