2.9.2.5: Comorbidities and Polypharmacy

Comorbidity is defined as the presence of two or more chronic diseases. This is common for elderly patients and often results in patients taking more than one medication. Polypharmacy occurs when patients take several prescribed medications. Polypharmacy may lead to an increased risk of drug–drug interactions, drug–disease interactions, and adverse reactions. It is important for the medical assistant to document all patient medications and disease processes to reduce the risk of these potentially life-threatening effects (Kurt et al., 2019).

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