SynthesisBMC geriatrics2017
What is polypharmacy? A systematic review of definitions.
Synthesis in BMC geriatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 1,554 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Composite Health Assessment Risk Model (CHARM) for Older Adults: Applying Pre-Transplant Comorbidity, Geriatric Assessment, and BioMarkers on Non-Relapse Mortality After Allogeneic Transplant (BMT CTN 1704)
Medication Monitoring in General Practice: Clinical Impact of Implementing a Nurse-led Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRe) Profile in Older Adults With 5 or More Prescribed Medicines
A Retrospective, Comparative Study, for the Assessment of a Novel System, an Algorithm for Medication Safety and Consultation for Chronic Polypharmacy Patients
The Efficacy of Thyme Honey Mouth Rinse on Polypharmacy-induced Xerostomia (A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial With a Biochemical Assessment)
Who cites it
1,554 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Medication safety in older adults in India: an integrative PhD synthesis of direct evidence and contextual implementation evidence.Global health action · 2026Pooled it
- Optimizing Medication Use in Older Adults in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Deprescribing Interventions.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2026Pooled it
- Deprescribing decisions in palliative care: a qualitative meta-synthesis of multi-stakeholder experiences and influencing factors.BMC palliative care · 2026Pooled it
- Deprescribing for Comorbidities in Patients with Cancer - a Systematic Review.Current oncology reports · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Comparing In-Person Versus Self-Paced Polypharmacy Education in Older Adults: A Pragmatic Comparison of Delivery Format Effectiveness.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Deprescribing in older patients with hyperpolypharmacy: a cluster-randomised trial in primary care.Age and ageing · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Relationship between cardiometabolic alterations and frailty in Brazilian urban and rural older adults.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2026Article
- Patients' perspectives on deprescribing in swedish primary care: an exploratory survey study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the MEDication Literacy Assessment in Geriatric Patients and Informal Caregivers (MED-fLAG) instrument using Rasch analyses in a sample of hospitalised older adults.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Article
- Characterising pharmacist interventions from person-centred medicines reviews in general practice settings.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Perspectives About Older Adult and Family Member Engagement in Medication Management Across Transitions of Care.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Narcolepsy and Idiopathic Hypersomnia Real-World Treatment Patterns and Changes in Alerting Agent Use After Low-Sodium Oxybate Initiation: A Retrospective Claims Analysis.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Sex differences in single and combined cardiovascular medication use.American heart journal plus : cardiology research and practice · 2026Article
1,494 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMultimorbidity and the associated use of multiple medicines (polypharmacy), is common in the older population. Despite this, there is no consensus definition for polypharmacy. A systematic review was conducted to identify and summarise polypharmacy definitions in existing literature.
methodsThe reporting of this systematic review conforms to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE and Cochrane were systematically searched, as well as grey literature, to identify articles which defined the term polypharmacy (without any limits on the types of definitions) and were in English, published between 1st January 2000 and 30th May 2016. Definitions were categorised as i. numerical only (using the number of medications to define polypharmacy), ii. numerical with an associated duration of therapy or healthcare setting (such as during hospital stay) or iii. Descriptive (using a brief description to define polypharmacy).
resultsA total of 1156 articles were identified and 110 articles met the inclusion criteria. Articles not only defined polypharmacy but associated terms such as minor and major polypharmacy. As a result, a total of 138 definitions of polypharmacy and associated terms were obtained. There were 111 numerical only definitions (80.4% of all definitions), 15 numerical definitions which incorporated a duration of therapy or healthcare setting (10.9%) and 12 descriptive definitions (8.7%). The most commonly reported definition of polypharmacy was the numerical definition of five or more medications daily (n = 51, 46.4% of articles), with definitions ranging from two or more to 11 or more medicines. Only 6.4% of articles classified the distinction between appropriate and inappropriate polypharmacy, using descriptive definitions to make this distinction.
conclusionsPolypharmacy definitions were variable. Numerical definitions of polypharmacy did not account for specific comorbidities present and make it difficult to assess safety and appropriateness of therapy in the clinical setting.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.