Polypharmacy showed a slow increase over 4 years: almost 20% of the elderly developed polypharmacy, i.e. going from no drugs or one drug to two or more drugs. Polypharmacy develops mainly in elderly patients who already use several drugs, who are known to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or stomach symptoms, those who often take drugs (especially sedatives/hypnotics) without clear indication and those who develop hypertension or atrial fibrillation over time.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of physiotherapy, manipulation, and corticosteroid injection for treating patients with shoulder complaints in general practice. Design: Randomised, single blind study. Setting: Seven general practices in the Netherlands. Subjects: 198 patients with shoulder complaints, of whom 172 were divided, on the basis of physical examination, into two diagnostic groups: a shoulder girdle group (n = 58) and a synovial group (n = 114). Interventions: Patients in the shoulder girdle group were randomised to manipulation or physiotherapy, and patients in the synovial group were randomised to corticosteroid injection, manipulation, or physiotherapy. Main outcome measures: Duration of shoulder complaints analysed by survival analysis.

This study shows that diabetes management in primary care can be safely transferred to practice nurses.