Polypharmacy and quality of life

As the population ages, managing medications becomes increasingly complex. Many older adults live with multiple conditions (called multimorbidity) that often lead to them taking several prescriptions—a situation known as polypharmacy. While each individual one may be justified, combining multiple medications can increase the risk of side effects and sometimes outweigh the benefits. This finding underscores the need for a more holistic and optimal use of medications that considers seniors’ overall health and balances treatment with quality of life.  Benoît Cossette and his team at Université de Sherbrooke are dedicating their research to improving how medications are managed in older adults.

To tackle the challenge, they focused on a critical stage: care transitions and the return home after hospitalization in particular. These periods are prone to errors, as medication changes made in hospital aren’t always clearly communicated to physicians, pharmacies or community support teams. To reduce the risks, the researchers developed a one-page summary outlining treatment changes as a complement to commonly used documents such as the medication reconciliation report. The five-year study showed that this simple tool makes frontline staff’s work easier and improves continuity of care, and the findings support its systematic adoption across the healthcare system.

Another key focus of the research is deprescribing: reviewing and, when appropriate, reducing or stopping certain medications. The current work is especially concerned with psychotropic drugs like antidepressants, antipsychotics and benzodiazepines, whose cumulative use can affect mobility and increase the risk of falls. In collaboration with primary care teams, Benoît Cossette’s lab is assessing the impact of deprescribing on seniors’ mobility using indicators such as gait speed and balance. The preliminary results are promising: reducing the number of medications could enhance older adults’ quality of life and maintain their independence in their daily activities.

References

• Cossette, B., Boissy, P., Milot, M.-H., Hilmer, S. N., Kouladjian O’Donnell, L., Gnjidic, D., Sirois, C., Mangin, D., Ricard, G., Isenor, J. E., Roy-Petit, J., Abdulrazak, B., Tousignant, M., et Lebel, K. (2025). Feasibility of measuring physical function by wearable devices during deprescribing of anticholinergic and sedative medications. Canadian Journal on Aging / La revue canadienne du vieillissement, 44(2), 254-261. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980825000078 PubMed
• Cossette, B., Ricard, G., Poirier, R., Gosselin, S., Langlois, M.-F., Imbeault, P., Breton, M., Couturier, Y., Sirois, C., Lessard-Beaudoin, M., Rodrigue, C., Teasdale, J., Turcotte, J.-P., et Mallet, L. (2022). Pharmacist-led transitions of care between hospitals, primary care clinics, and community pharmacies. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 70(3), 766-776. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17575 PubMed
• Breuker, C., Teasdale, J., Mallet, L., Ricard, G., Turcotte, J.-P., Gosselin, S., Langlois, M.-F., Imbeault, P., Breton, M., Couturier, Y., Sirois, C., et Cossette, B. (2022). Communication between hospitals, Family Medicine Groups and community pharmacists during transitions of care interventions. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 18(8), 3290-3296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2021.09.006 PubMed