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Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Anne Wissendorff Ekdahl, Lund University
- Second opponent: Associate Professor Susanne Sørensen Hernes, University of Bergen
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Tore Julsrud Berg, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor II Jøran Sture Hjelmesæth, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Torgeir Bruun Wyller, University of Oslo
Summary
Older people living with multimorbidity and receiving home care services are prone to polypharmacy. Almost half of the patients are prescribed medications or combinations of medications considered inappropriate. The use of prescription tools can only to a limited degree prevent serious adverse drug events in this patient group. Patients at highest risk of serious adverse events are those with low Body Mass Index (BMI) and a high burden of comorbidity.
Geriatric care led to a greater reduction in drug use in general and in inappropriate drug use for this patient group than care in the other medical wards. The reduction did not lead to a significant reduction in readmissions.
For older patients with complex drug regimens, we recommend a thorough multidisciplinary comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) to support the medication review.
Regarding readmissions, the highest risk among our patients was observed in younger patients with higher cognitive function. It is possible that older patients with cognitive decline and multimorbidity more often are treated in community institutions rather than being referred to hospital.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.