ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2018
Associations Between Polypharmacy and Cognitive and Physical Capability: A British Birth Cohort Study.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Applying the Bradford Hill Criteria to Assess the Independent Causal Roles of Aging and Medication in Frailty Progression: A Systematic Review.Drugs & aging · 2026Pooled it
- Personality traits and polypharmacy: meta-analysis of five samples.Psychology & health · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Polypharmacy and Malnutrition Management of Elderly Perioperative Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review of the evidence for deprescribing interventions among older people living with frailty.BMC geriatrics · 2021Pooled it
- The Association Between Polypharmacy and Physical Function in Older Adults: a Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Beta-Blockers for the Secondary Prevention of Myocardial Infarction in People with Dementia: A Systematic Review.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2019Pooled it
- Effect of wearables with behavioral prompts on physical and cognitive outcomes in community-dwelling older adults: preliminary results of a pilot randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Trial
- Medication Optimization Protocol Efficacy for Geriatric Inpatients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Long-Term Cognitive and Functional Outcomes Following Postoperative Delirium and Liberal Fluid Fasting in Elderly Trauma Patients: A Prospective Single-Centre Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence and predictors of potentially inappropriate medication use among older adults with heart failure: a 2023 beers criteria-based evaluation.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Polypharmacy and anticholinergic burden are common but not independently associated with outcomes after emergency laparotomy in older adults.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2026Observational
- Article
- Characterizing Medicare Medication Therapy Management program enrollees with central nervous system-active polypharmacy.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2026Observational
- Does polypharmacy affect epigenetic aging in older people? Evidence from a longitudinal epigenome-wide methylation study.Clinical epigenetics · 2025Article
- Checklist-Based Identification of Adverse Drug Reactions in Emergency Department Patients.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Testing complex interventions for polypharmacy in real-world conditions.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2025Article
- Potentially inappropriate medicines for older people: consensus-based lists.Australian prescriber · 2025Review
- Multiple chronic conditions and polypharmacy in cognitively unimpaired older adults are associated with subsequent cognitive decline: results from the national alzheimer's coordinating center data.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2025Article
- Impact of an Interprofessional Collaboration Between Physicians and Pharmacists on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs in Older Patients with Trauma in the Emergency Department.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate longitudinal associations between polypharmacy and cognitive and physical capability and to determine whether these associations differ with cumulative exposure to polypharmacy.
designProspective birth cohort study.
settingEngland, Scotland, and Wales.
participantsAn eligible sample of men and women from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development with medication data at age 69 (N=2,122, 79%). MEASUREMENTS: Cognitive capability was assessed using a word learning test, visual search speed task, and the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination, Third Edition (ACE-III). Physical capability was measured using chair rise speed, standing balance time, walking speed, and grip strength.
resultsPolypharmacy (5-8 prescribed medications) was present in 18.2% of participants at age 69 and excessive polypharmacy (≥9 prescribed medications) in 4.7%. Both were associated with poorer cognitive and physical capability in models adjusted for sex, education, and disease burden. Stronger associations were found for excessive polypharmacy (e.g., difference in mean ACE-III scores comparing polypharmacy=-2.0, 95% CI=-2.8 to -1.1 and excessive polypharmacy=-2.9, 95% CI=-4.4 to -1.4 with no polypharmacy). Participants with polypharmacy at age 60 to 64 and at age 69 showed stronger Negative associations with cognitive and physical capability were stronger still in participants with polypharmacy at both age 60 to 64 and at age 69 (e.g. difference in mean chair rise speed, comparing polypharmacy with no polypharmacy at both ages=-3.9, 95% CI=-5.2 to -2.6 and at age 60-64 only=-2.5, 95% CI=-4.1 to -0.9).
conclusionPolypharmacy at age 60 to 64 and age 69 was associated with poorer physical and cognitive capability, even after adjusting for disease burden. Stronger negative associations were seen in participants with longstanding polypharmacy, suggesting a cumulative, dose-dependent relationship (where dose is the number of prescribed medications). Future research aiming to improve cognitive and physical capability should consider interventions to reduce the duration and level of polypharmacy at younger ages, in addition to optimizing disease control with appropriate medications.
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