Pharmacotherapy in Older People

Introduction

In Europe and the Western World in particular, the proportion of older people is dramatically increasing. This is predicted to add tremendous extra pressure to the strained healthcare systems.

Cardiovascular drugs are among the most prevalent drugs administered to older people. In particular diuretics, antihypertensives, NOACs, antiarrhythmics, lipid-lowering and glucose-lowering drugs. All these drug classes can lead to increased frailty and should in particular not be prescribed on a one-size-fits-all-basis to older people, and polypharmacy should be countered.

Our goal is for all participants to leave the meeting with the improved competence and confidence to deliver better, personalised therapy to older people, which in turn will have a positive impact on services and patient outcomes.

The 2022 edition of the course took place in Madrid, Spain, on 13 and 14 October.

Course directors

• Prof. Juan Tamargo, Spain
• Prof. Juan Carlos Kaski, UK

Learning objectives

The reduction of the cardiovascular disease burden via pharmacotherapy is a multistep approach, which requires:

• identifying new potential drugs;
• testing new potential pharmacological compounds in trial setting;
• getting regulatory approval;
• implementing therapies in clinical practice.

Older patients with cardiovascular disease are often found to be undertreated. There are many reasons for this, including polypharmacy, fear of side effects, co-morbidities, frailty and sparse trial evidence of drug efficacy in the elderly. Strategies leading to the rational implementation of pharmacological therapies are therefore necessary for the subgroup of older patients with cardiovascular disease.

The specific aim of the course is to improve the practicing physician’s competence and confidence to deliver better, safer, personalised therapy for older people, which should, in turn,  have a positive impact on patient outcomes and quality of life.

Feedback from previous courses

What past participants said

• Over 90% of participants found the course extremely useful and helpful for their daily practice
• More than 80% rated the programme 'excellent', with the speakers and topics cited as the best aspects of the event
• 95% of participants declared that the event fulfilled their educational goals and expected learning outcomes

For any questions, please contact us at workinggroups@escardio.org.

Previous edition

Thank you to all POP 2021 attendees. A replay of selected presentations and discussions is available: