Home care patients’ experiences from living with polypharmacy - a qualitative interview study

Background Patients with home care (HC) are frail and multi-diseased older persons who are often treated with many medicines. Their perspectives on polypharmacy have previously been sparsely explored. Aim To investigate these patients’ experiences and perceptions regarding polypharmacy. Design & setting S emi-structured interviews with seventeen patients with HC in Stockholm, Sweden. The informants’ median age was 83,5 years (range 74–97 years) and the median number of prescribed medicines was 11 (range 5-30). Method The interview questions were open and aimed to encourage informants to speak freely about their personal experiences of living with polypharmacy. Data was analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. Results Two themes were identified: 1) Experiences from daily life with polypharmacy, and 2) Dependency on the relationship to healthcare professionals. The first theme contains the main finding which was the diversity in how older persons experienced polypharmacy and how they coped with polypharmacy in everyday life. While some were satisfied despite having multiple medicines, others experienced such psychological unease due to polypharmacy that it led to reduced quality of life. The second theme reflects the importance of the relationship between the older person and healthcare professionals for medicine-related ideas and attitudes. Conclusions The individual variation in experiences regarding polypharmacy points to the value of interprofessional teamwork with the patient as an active partner. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to adapt a more person-centred approach where the patient’s perspectives are respected and considered in medicine-related decision-making.