The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients

<b>Aim/Objectives</b>: To investigate whether frailty predicts adherence to psychotropic drug treatment or adverse drug reactions, within 6 months after treatment initiation. <b>Methods</b>: A prospective cohort study including 77 patients over the age of 65, treated in one l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tuan Anh Phan, Rob Kok
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Geriatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/10/2/57
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850144420320509952
author Tuan Anh Phan
Rob Kok
author_facet Tuan Anh Phan
Rob Kok
author_sort Tuan Anh Phan
collection DOAJ
description <b>Aim/Objectives</b>: To investigate whether frailty predicts adherence to psychotropic drug treatment or adverse drug reactions, within 6 months after treatment initiation. <b>Methods</b>: A prospective cohort study including 77 patients over the age of 65, treated in one large psychiatric institute in the Netherlands. Patients were assessed at baseline for their frailty status, using different operationalizations of the Fried frailty criteria. Data on duration of psychotropic drug treatment and number of reported adverse drug reactions were retrieved from electronic patient files. Regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, patient setting, and polypharmacy as potential confounders. <b>Results</b>: Frail patients were not significantly more likely to discontinue psychotropic treatment than non-frail patients (OR = 1.4; 95% CI 0.6–3.7, <i>p</i> = 0.468). Time to treatment discontinuation was also not statistically different between both study groups (HR = 0.8; 95% CI 0.4–1.6, <i>p</i> = 0.498), and neither was the number of adverse drug reactions (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.6–4.1, <i>p</i> = 0.345). <b>Conclusions</b>: We could not demonstrate a statistically significant effect of frailty as predictor of discontinuing psychotropic treatment or adverse drug reactions, but a lack of power may also explain our results. A more comprehensive frailty assessment may be needed to predict treatment adherence or adverse drug reactions in psychiatric patients.
format Article
id doaj-art-4319b6e9b7a645de9fe5a0dd6660582a
institution OA Journals
issn 2308-3417
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Geriatrics
spelling doaj-art-4319b6e9b7a645de9fe5a0dd6660582a2025-08-20T02:28:23ZengMDPI AGGeriatrics2308-34172025-04-011025710.3390/geriatrics10020057The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric PatientsTuan Anh Phan0Rob Kok1Erasmus Medical Center, Hospital Pharmacy, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The NetherlandsParnassia Group, Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Mangostraat 1, 2552 KS Den Haag, The Netherlands<b>Aim/Objectives</b>: To investigate whether frailty predicts adherence to psychotropic drug treatment or adverse drug reactions, within 6 months after treatment initiation. <b>Methods</b>: A prospective cohort study including 77 patients over the age of 65, treated in one large psychiatric institute in the Netherlands. Patients were assessed at baseline for their frailty status, using different operationalizations of the Fried frailty criteria. Data on duration of psychotropic drug treatment and number of reported adverse drug reactions were retrieved from electronic patient files. Regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, patient setting, and polypharmacy as potential confounders. <b>Results</b>: Frail patients were not significantly more likely to discontinue psychotropic treatment than non-frail patients (OR = 1.4; 95% CI 0.6–3.7, <i>p</i> = 0.468). Time to treatment discontinuation was also not statistically different between both study groups (HR = 0.8; 95% CI 0.4–1.6, <i>p</i> = 0.498), and neither was the number of adverse drug reactions (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.6–4.1, <i>p</i> = 0.345). <b>Conclusions</b>: We could not demonstrate a statistically significant effect of frailty as predictor of discontinuing psychotropic treatment or adverse drug reactions, but a lack of power may also explain our results. A more comprehensive frailty assessment may be needed to predict treatment adherence or adverse drug reactions in psychiatric patients.https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/10/2/57frailtypsychiatric patientspsychotropic drugstreatment adherenceadverse drug reactions
spellingShingle Tuan Anh Phan
Rob Kok
The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
Geriatrics
frailty
psychiatric patients
psychotropic drugs
treatment adherence
adverse drug reactions
title The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
title_full The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
title_fullStr The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
title_short The Influence of Frailty on Pharmacotherapy Adherence and Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Psychiatric Patients
title_sort influence of frailty on pharmacotherapy adherence and adverse drug reactions in older psychiatric patients
topic frailty
psychiatric patients
psychotropic drugs
treatment adherence
adverse drug reactions
url https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/10/2/57
work_keys_str_mv AT tuananhphan theinfluenceoffrailtyonpharmacotherapyadherenceandadversedrugreactionsinolderpsychiatricpatients
AT robkok theinfluenceoffrailtyonpharmacotherapyadherenceandadversedrugreactionsinolderpsychiatricpatients
AT tuananhphan influenceoffrailtyonpharmacotherapyadherenceandadversedrugreactionsinolderpsychiatricpatients
AT robkok influenceoffrailtyonpharmacotherapyadherenceandadversedrugreactionsinolderpsychiatricpatients