Polypharmacy in Patients With COPD: A Scoping Review.

ABSTRACT: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health challenge. Increasing numbers of patients with COPD are prescribed multiple medications (both for COPD and non-COPD disorders). This increases the risk of polypharmacy in these patients which can be linked with patient harm. However, the definition of polypharmacy is varied across literature (ranging from use of ≥3 to ≥20 medications). This review aims to report the prevalence of polypharmacy, report the varying definitions of polypharmacy, and report medication related harms amongst patients with COPD. We identified 28 studies reporting polypharmacy rates in COPD populations. A total of 13 studies (46.3%) defined polypharmacy as the use of ≥5 medications; however, the remaining studies had different definitions of polypharmac

SUBMITTER: Upadhyay H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12614183 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature