Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29559811›Full record

ArticleClinical epidemiology2018

The epidemiology of polypharmacy in older adults: register-based prospective cohort study.

Lucas Morin, Kristina Johnell, Marie-Laure Laroche, Johan Fastbom, Jonas W Wastesson

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 169 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
169citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
21.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

169 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 362 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: A Systematic Literature Review of a Silent Contributor to Adult Drowning.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  5. The use of general anaesthesia in special care dentistry: A clinical guideline from the British Society for Disability and Oral Health.Special care in dentistry : official publication of the American Association of Hospital Dentists, the Academy of Dentistry for the Handicapped, and the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry · 2022
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109 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Lucas MorinAging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kristina JohnellAging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Marie-Laure LarocheUniversity Hospital of Limoges, Service de Pharmacologie, Toxicologie et Pharmacovigilance, Limoges, France.
Johan FastbomAging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Jonas W WastessonAging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SEUniversité de Limoges · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePolypharmacy is the concomitant use of several drugs by a single person, and it increases the risk of adverse drug-related events in older adults. Little is known about the epidemiology of polypharmacy at the population level. We aimed to measure the prevalence and incidence of polypharmacy and to investigate the associated factors.

methodsA prospective cohort study was conducted using register data with national coverage in Sweden. A total of 1,742,336 individuals aged ≥65 years at baseline (November 1, 2010) were included and followed until death or the end of the study (December 20, 2013).

resultsOn average, individuals were exposed to 4.6 (SD =4.0) drugs at baseline. The prevalence of polypharmacy (5+ drugs) was 44.0%, and the prevalence of excessive polypharmacy (10+ drugs) was 11.7%. The incidence rate of polypharmacy among individuals without polypharmacy at baseline was 19.9 per 100 person-years, ranging from 16.8% in individuals aged 65-74 years to 33.2% in those aged ≥95 years (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] =1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-1.56). The incidence rate of excessive polypharmacy was 8.0 per 100 person-years. Older adults using multi-dose dispensing were at significantly higher risk of developing incident polypharmacy compared with those receiving ordinary prescriptions (HR =1.51, 95% CI 1.47-1.55). When adjusting for confounders, living in nursing home was found to be associated with lower risks of incident polypharmacy and incident excessive polypharmacy (HR =0.79 and HR =0.86,

conclusionThe prevalence and incidence of polypharmacy are high among older adults in Sweden. Interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of polypharmacy should also target potential incident polypharmacy users as they are the ones who fuel future polypharmacy.

Indexed as

drugselderlymedicationolder adultspolypharmacyprescribing

Identifiers

PMID29559811
PMCPMC5856059
OpenAlexW2790083419

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.