Age Related Effects of Medications in Older Adults

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Aging changes how your body absorbs, processes, and gets rid of medications. These changes can often make older adults more sensitive to medication side effects or cause toxic effects. Some medicines that are considered safe for younger people may be risky for older adults. Healthcare providers use tools like the Beers Criteria to identify medications that are not a good fit or unsafe for older adults1. These special age-related recommendations support safer prescribing and reduce the chance of side effects like dizziness, confusion, sedation, or reduce risk of complication such as fractures or falls.

Resources
  1. American Geriatrics Society 2023 updated AGS Beers Criteria® for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. J Am Geriatrics Soc. 2023 Jul;71(7):2052-2081. Wiley; 2023 Jul. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.18372.
  2. Mangoni AA, Jackson SHD. Age‐related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics: basic principles and practical applications. Brit J Clin Pharma. 2004 Jan;57(1):6-14. Wiley; 2004 Jan. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2125.2003.02007.x.
  3. Keepers GA, Fochtmann LJ, Anzia JM, Benjamin S, Lyness JM, Mojtabai R, et al. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia. AJP. 2020 Sep 1;177(9):868-872. American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2020 Sep 1. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.177901.
  4. Fotso Soh J, Klil-Drori S, Rej S. Using Lithium in Older Age Bipolar Disorder: Special Considerations. Drugs Aging. 2019 Feb;36(2):147-154. Springer Science and Business Media LLC; 2019 Feb. DOI: 10.1007/s40266-018-0628-1.
  5. Aging and Medications - Older People’s Health Issues - Merck Manual Consumer Version.
  6. Taking Medicines Safely as You Age. September 22, 2022 [cited September 25, 2025]. September 22, 2022.