Anum Iqbal
PhD student – Multi-morbidity, ageing and frailty
Anum Iqbal – PhD student, Multi-morbidity, ageing and frailty
Alongside being a PhD researcher, Anum is also a practising pharmacist working across both primary and secondary care. Her PhD topic area has been influenced by her experience within clinical practice – and she says that ‘witnessing the importance that medication reviews and deprescribing can have on the quality of life of an individual is phenomenal’.
Anum believes that understanding the relationship between polypharmacy and socioeconomic inequalities, is an important step to help healthcare professionals and policymakers develop evidence-based guidance to promote safe and equitable review of medications.
Title of PhD research project
Medication use in older people: exploring the relationship between polypharmacy and socioeconomic inequalities
Summary of research project
Polypharmacy, often defined as the use of five or more medications, has become an increasing challenge for healthcare professionals. The increased use of multiple medications has raised some concerns, particularly across older people, as this population is more likely to develop adverse drug events, including drug-drug interactions, non-adherence and falls. While previous studies have shown that certain patient-based factors, such as age, are associated with increased levels of polypharmacy, the role of socioeconomic factors such as education, income, occupation, is less clear. This PhD aims to address this gap and explore the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and polypharmacy in older people across England, using the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies data.
Understanding the relationship between these factors is an important step to help healthcare professionals and policy-makers develop evidence-based guidance to promote safe and equitable review of medications.
Expected PhD completion date : September 2024