Dr. Jennifer Anders
Duration: 1 February 2004 to 31 January 2006
Center: Albertinen-Haus, Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Hamburg, Germany
Research Background
- Clinical work in outpatient geriatric rehabilitation (AGR);
at Medizinisch-Geriatrische Klinik, accompanied by studies of the mobility of elderly patients - Lecturer in "Medicine for Old Age and Elderly People", part of the clinic curriculum for students of medicine at the University of Hamburg
Research Focus
- Scientific cooperation in the EU study into disability prevention in the elderly population (5th EU Framework Program 2000-2003)
- Currently preparing multivariate secondary analyses of data from this EU study involving three countries, focusing on pharmacological exposition, multimedication and the medication compliance of elderly people in this context, simultaneously undertaking systematic literature research.
Problems of pharmacotherapy in old age:
"More than a third of German citizens over the age of 70 are regularly prescribed
five or more medicines"
"Multimedication (= the prescription of five or more medicines simultaneously) is the most important risk factor in unwanted pharmacological side effects as well as a risk factor for falls and states of confusion"(von Renteln-Kruse W (ed.) Medizin des Alterns und des alten Menschen. Steinkopfverlag Darmstadt, 2004;
S. 71).
"Multimedication is frequently associated with unexpected side effects, interaction, non-compliance and misprescription..." (May FE, Stewart RB, Cluff LE (1977) Drug interactions and multiple drug administration. Clin Pharmacol Ther 22:322-328).
"The consequences of non-compliance, misprescription [...] contribute to poor therapeutic outcomes" (Lindley CM, Tully MP, Paramsothy V, Tallis RC (1992)Inappropriate medication is a major cause of adverse drug reactions in elderly patients. Age Ageing 21:294-300).