A 83-year-old man with COPD, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes is reviewed in a primary care multimorbidity clinic. He is on 12 regular medications. ...

Question

A 83-year-old man with COPD, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes is reviewed in a primary care multimorbidity clinic. He is on 12 regular medications. He feels overwhelmed by his medication regimen and often forgets doses. His GP wants to conduct a structured medication review. According to NICE NG56, what is the MOST important principle when managing medications in multimorbidity?

Accepted Answer

Establish the patient's treatment priorities and preferences, and consider reducing treatment burden by stopping medications that are no longer providing net benefit

Answer

Focus on treating each condition to its individual target irrespective of the total medication burden

Answer

All medications should be stopped simultaneously to reduce the pill burden

Answer

Specialist review is required before any medication changes can be made

Answer

Continue all medications as stopping any could be dangerous

uk-dgm MCQ (SBA): Medication Optimisation in Multimorbidity