Polypharmacy in Pediatrics: Modern Conditions

Abstract

The polypharmacy as the reason of iatrogeny is topical problem of health care both in Russia and in the world. Clinical aspects of polypharmacy come out as pharmacotherapy efficiency decrease and development of severe adverse drug effects as well as health care cost increase. There is no uniform definition of polypharmacy in pediatric practice. However quantity and duration of medicine administration, medicine class, medicine eligibility, medical conditions and clinical conditions are usually considered. The correlations between existing medicines prescription models and health problems in children appears relevant. The results of recent researches on this problem are presented in the review.

Keywords

• polypharmacy
• children
• pediatrics
• safety
• medicines
• pharmacoepidemiology