Swiss project targets drug use, co-morbidity in elderly

Researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland have been awarded €6.6m of funding from Horizon 2020 to reduce the over and incorrect prescription of medications in older people. It is the first Horizon 2020 project to be managed by Switzerland in the area of health.

The scientists are joined by counterparts at Bern University Hospital, the University of Basel and universities from five EU countries. The main objective of the ‘Optimising Therapy to prevent avoidable hospital admissions in the Multimorbid elderly’, or OPERAM project, is to test the effect of a software-based intervention in 1,900 co-morbid elderly patients. The project also seeks to optimise drug therapy, reduce drug related hospital admissions and improve the quality of life of those affected.

According to Bern University, many older people have multiple chronic diseases, so-called ‘co-morbidity’, and must therefore occupy several medications (polypharmacy). Professor Nicolas Rodondi of the University Hospital, who leads the project consortium, says patients with co-morbidity are often excluded from randomised trials and most medical directives would concern only individual diseases. Subsequently, inappropriate drug prescriptions or irregular drug revenues cause up to 30% of hospital admissions and 20% of unnecessary healthcare costs.

Rodondi says: “Wrong medications are responsible for many hospital stays. A further 3% of deaths are due to inappropriate regulations and procedures due to drug reactions”. The lead researcher adds that such interventions have the potential to reduce health costs by several million euro per year, per country.