Defining ‘elderly’ in clinical practice guidelines for pharmacotherapy
Main Article Content
Keywords
Aged, Drug Therapy, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Terminology as Topic
Abstract
Objective: To identify how ‘elderly’ patients are defined and considered within Australian clinical guidelines for the use of pharmacotherapy.
Method: Guidelines pertaining to the use of pharmacotherapy, focusing on conditions described in National Health Priority Areas, were identified using databases (Medline, Google Scholar) and organisation websites (Department of Health and Ageing, National Heart Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council). Guidelines were reviewed and qualitatively analysed to identify any references or definitions of ‘elderly’ persons.
Results: Among the 20 guidelines reviewed, 3 defined ‘elderly’ by chronological age (i.e., years since birth) while the remaining 17 guidelines did not define ‘elderly’ in any way. All 20 guidelines used the term ‘elderly’, whilst some guidelines provided age (chronological)-based dosage recommendations suggesting an ageist or generalist approach in their representation of ‘elderly’, for which rationale was seldom provided. Thematic analysis of the statements revealed five key themes regarding how ‘elderly’ was considered within the guidelines, broadly describing ‘elderly’ persons as being frail and with altered pharmacology. Some guidelines also highlighted the limited evidence base to direct clinical decision-making. A continuum of perceptions of ageing also emerged out of the identified themes.
Conclusion: Clinical practice guidelines currently do not adequately define ‘elderly’ persons and provide limited guidance on how to apply treatment recommendations to older persons. The representation of ‘elderly’ in guidelines needs to be less based on chronological age or generic definitions focusing more on establishing a direct link between an individual patient’s characteristics and the pharmacology of their prescribed medication. Clinical guidelines that do not offer any practical descriptions of the features of ageing that are specifically related to the use of pharmacotherapy, or how to assess these in individual patients, render decision-making challenging.
References
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15. Ferguson LM, Ward H, Card S, Sheppard S, McMurtry J. Putting the ‘patient’ back into patient-centred care: An education perspective. Nurse Educ Pract. 2013;13(4):283-287. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2013.03.016
16. Lesko LJ, Schmidt S. Individualization of drug therapy: history, present state, and opportunities for the future. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012;92(4):458-466. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2012.113
17. Zhao P, Zhang L, Grillo JA, Liu Q, Bullock JM, Moon YJ, Song P, Brar SS, Madabushi R, Wu TC, Booth BP, Rahman NA, Reynolds KS, Gil Berglund E, Lesko LJ, Huang SM. Applications of Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Modeling and Simulation During Regulatory Review. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2011;89(2):259-67. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2010.298
18. Hamberg AK, Wadelius M, Lindh JD, Dahl ML, Padrini R, Deloukas P, Rane A, Jonsson EN. A Pharmacometric Model Describing the Relationship Between Warfarin Dose and INR Response With Respect to Variations in CYP2C9, VKORC1, and Age. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2010;87(6):727-734. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2010.37
19. Field MJ, Lohr KN. Clinical Practice Guidelines: directions for a new program. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press; 1990.
20. Tricoci P, Allen JM, Kramer JM, Califf RM, Smith SC. Scientific evidence underlying the ACC/AHA clinical practice guidelines. JAMA. 2009;301(8):831-841. doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.205
21. Farquhar CM, Kofa EW, Slutsky JR. Clinicians' attitudes to clinical practice guidelines: a systematic review. Med J Aust. 2002;177(9):502-506.
22. AIHW, Begg S, Vos T, Barker B, Stevenson C, Stanley L, Lapez A. The burden of disease and injury in Australia 2003. 2007. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467990 (accessed 8/10/2014).
23. Clinical Practice Guidelines Portal. https://www.clinicalguidelines.gov.au/ (accessed 23/10/2014).
24. Joffe H, Yardley L. Content and thematic analysis. In: Research methods for clinical and health psychology. London; SAGE; 2004. ISBN: 9780761971917
25. RHD Australia (ARF/RHD writing group) National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and mangement of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. 2012. http://www.rhdaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/guideline_0.pdf (accessed 14/03/2014).
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27. Australian and New Zealand Clinical practice Guideline for Prevention and Management of Venous Leg Ulcers. http://www.awma.com.au/publications/2011_awma_vlug.pdf (accessed 22/03/2014).
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36. Dodd S, Malhi GS, Tiller J, Schweitzer I, Hickie I, Khoo JP, Bassett DL, Lyndon B, Mitchell PB, Parker G, Fitzgerald PB, Udina M, Singh A, Moylan S, Giorlando F, Doughty C, Davey CG, Theodoros M, Berk M. A Consensus Statement for Safety Monitoring Guidelines of Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2011;45(9):712-725. doi: 10.3109/00048674.2011.595686
37. National Vascular Disease Prevention Alliance. Guidelines for the management of absolute cardiovascular disease risk. 2012. http://strokefoundation.com.au/site/media/AbsoluteCVD_GL_webready.pdf (accessed 13/03/2014).
38. National Health and Medical Research Council. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in adults, adolescents and children in Australia. 2013. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n57_obesity_guidelines_131003.pdf (accessed 15/03/2014).
39. National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Reducing risk in heart disease: an expert guide to clinical practice for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease., Melbourne: National Heart Foundation of Australia. 2012. http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/Reducing-risk-in-heart-disease.pdf (accessed 13/03/2014).
40. Frith PA. The COPDX Plan: Australian and New Zealand guidelines for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2003. Med J Aust. 2003;178(Suppl):S7-S39.
41. Clinical guieline for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and older men. 2010. http://www.racgp.org.au/download/documents/Guidelines/Musculoskeletal/racgp_osteo_guideline.pdf (accessed 15/03/2014).
42. Mant J, Hobbs FDR, Fletcher K, Roalfe A, Fitzmaurice D, Lip GYH, Murray E. Warfarin versus aspirin for stroke prevention in an elderly community population with atrial fibrillation (the Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged Study, BAFTA): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet.370(9586):493-503. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61233-1
43. Carlsson J, Tebbe U, Rox J, Harmjanz D, Haerten K, Neuhaus K-L, Seidel F, Niederer W, Miketic S. Cardioversion of atrial fibrillation in the elderly. Am J Cardiol. 1996;78(12):1380-1384. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9149(96)00647-9
44. Guiot A, Jongnarangsin K, Chugh A, Suwanagool A, Latchamsetty R, Myles JD, Jiang Q, Crawford T, Good E, Pelosi F Jr, Bogun F, Morady F, Oral H. Anticoagulant Therapy and Risk of Cerebrovascular Events After Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012;23(1):36-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2011.02141.x
45. Kraft K, Hoffmann W. Challenge of evidence in individualized medicine. Per Med. 2012;9(1):65-71.
46. Cho S, Lau S, Tandon V, Kumi K, Pfuma E, Abernethy DR. Geriatric drug evaluation: where are we now and where should we be in the future? Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(10):937-940. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.152
47. Jacobs JM, Maaravi Y, Cohen A, Bursztyn M, Ein-Mor E, Stessman J. Changing Profile of Health and Function from Age 70 to 85 Years. Gerontology. 2012;58(4):313-321. doi: 10.1159/000335238
48. Goggins WB, Woo J, Sham A, Ho SC. Frailty Index as a Measure of Biological Age in a Chinese Population. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005;60(8):1046-1051. doi:10.1093/gerona/60.8.1046.
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Dec 8, 2014
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How to Cite
1.
Defining ‘elderly’ in clinical practice guidelines for pharmacotherapy. Pharm Pract (Granada) [Internet]. 2014 Dec. 8 [cited 2025 Feb. 8];12(4):489. Available from: https://pharmacypractice.org/index.php/pp/article/view/489
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Author Biographies
Shamsher Singh
PhD Candidate
Graduate School of Health
School of Pharmacy
Beata Bajorek
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Health
School of Pharmacy
How to Cite
1.
Defining ‘elderly’ in clinical practice guidelines for pharmacotherapy. Pharm Pract (Granada) [Internet]. 2014 Dec. 8 [cited 2025 Feb. 8];12(4):489. Available from: https://pharmacypractice.org/index.php/pp/article/view/489