Science & Healthcare

Pharmacotherapy is the main treatment of the majority of diseases. It influences clinical outcomes, survival and quality of life of patients. Pharmacotherapy should be effective, safe, efficient, and evidence-based. State expenditures for pharmacotherapy are the fastest growing article of healthcare budgets reaching 40% in some countries. Due to the lack of financial resources and qualified medical assistance, many developing countries apply unreasonable medical interventions including irrational drug therapy, which leads to excessive costs and may have a negative effect onpatients’ quality of life and results of treatment. Polypharmacy, adverse drug reactions and insufficient use of evidence-based pharmacotherapy lead to increased costs and reduced effectiveness of treatment.

In this article we summarize modern methods of detecting polypharmacy used in developed countries. These methods have been shown to improve efficiency, safety of pharmacotherapy, reduce the number of prescribed irrational drugs / drug combinations and to reduce treatment costs. We present the Beers criteria, STOPP and START criteria, Medication Appropriateness Index criteria, drug–drug interactions use, risk management problems associated with drug use (GerontoNet advers drugs reaction risk score) and discuss advantages and disadvantages of drug therapy rationality evaluation criteria.