Observational studyEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2015
Excessive polypharmacy and survival in polypathological patients.
Observational study in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of polypharmacy among older adults in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- What is polypharmacy? A systematic review of definitions.BMC geriatrics · 2017Pooled it
- Prognostic effect of polypharmacy in ambulatory patients with heart failure: a machine learning-based analysis.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Article
- [Medicines use review service in community pharmacies: an open door to other clinical pharmacy services].Farmaceuticos comunitarios · 2025Article
- Approaches to characterising multimorbidity in older people accessing hospital care: a scoping review.European geriatric medicine · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy and Potentially Inappropriate Medication in Iranian People With Metabolic Syndrome: Epidemiological Aspects and Related Factors, a Multi-Level Cross-Sectional National Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Association between driving and depression in older adults: findings from an ancillary study of a prospective cohort.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy and Elevated Risk of Severe Adverse Events in Older Adults Based on the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management-Korea Adverse Event Reporting System Database.Journal of Korean medical science · 2024Article
- A Multi-method Exploratory Evaluation of a Service Designed to Improve Medication Safety for Patients with Monitored Dosage Systems Following Hospital Discharge.Drug safety · 2023Article
- Delirium in Medically Hospitalized Patients: Prevalence, Recognition and Risk Factors: A Prospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Identification of Potentially Inappropriate Medications in Frail Older Adults Residing in Long-Term Care: A Retrospective Chart Review Study.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2023Article
- Current practice in benzodiazepine receptor agonists deprescribing on acute geriatric wards: a cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Non-random relations in drug use expressed as patterns comprising prescription and over-the-counter drugs in multimorbid elderly patients in primary care: Data of the exploratory analysis of the multicentre, observational cohort study MultiCare.The European journal of general practice · 2021Observational
- Observational
- Polypharmacy in older adults: a narrative review of definitions, epidemiology and consequences.European geriatric medicine · 2021Review
- Effect of the ExactCare medication care management model on adherence, health care utilization, and costs.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2021Article
- Prevalence and Associated Factors of Polypharmacy in Nursing Home Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Association between number of medications and mortality in geriatric inpatients: a Danish nationwide register-based cohort study.European geriatric medicine · 2020Article
- Shared Decision-Making in Chronic Patients with Polypharmacy: An Interventional Study for Assessing Medication Appropriateness.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
- Impact of Sarcopenia and Frailty in a Multicenter Cohort of Polypathological Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose of this study was to determine whether excessive polypharmacy is associated with a higher survival rate in polypathological patients. PATIENTS AND
methodsAn observational, prospective, and multicenter study was carried out on those polypathological patients admitted to the internal medicine and acute geriatrics departments between March 1 and June 30, 2011. For each patient, data concerning age, sex, comorbidity, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer's questionnaire, socio-familial Gijon scale, delirium, number of drugs, and number of admissions during the previous year were gathered, and the PROFUND index was calculated. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of ≥ 5 drugs and excessive polypharmacy as the use of ≥ 10. A 1-year long follow-up was carried out. A logistic regression model was performed to analyze the association of variables with excessive polypharmacy and a Cox proportional hazard model to determine the association between polypharmacy and survival.
resultsWe included 457 polypathological patients. Mean age was 81.0 (8.8) years and 54.5% were women. The mean number of drugs used was 8.2 (3.4). Excessive polypharmacy was directly associated with heart disease [hazard ratio (HR) 2.33 95% CI 1.40-3.87; p =0.001], respiratory disease [HR 1.87 95% CI 1.13-3.09; p = 0.01], peripheral artery disease/diabetes with retinopathy and/or neuropathy [HR 2.02 95% CI 1.17-3.50; p = 0.01], and the number of admissions during the previous year [HR 1.21 96%CI 1.01-1.44; p = 0.04]. It was inversely associated with delirium [HR 0.48 95% CI 0.25-0.91; p = 0.02]. There were no statistical differences regarding the probability of 1-year survival between patients with no polypharmacy, with simple polypharmacy, and with excessive polypharmacy (0.66, 0.60, and 0.57, respectively, p = 0.12).
conclusionsA greater use of drugs may not be harmful but is also not associated with a higher probability of survival in polypathological patients.
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