Observational studyBJS open2023
Epidemiology and association with outcomes of polypharmacy in patients undergoing surgery: retrospective, population-based cohort study.
Observational study in BJS open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04805151 (Polypharmacy, Medication Appropriateness, Risk Factors, Clinical Outcomes and Predication on Medication Related Harm Post- Discharge From a Hospital for Surgical Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Polypharmacy, Medication Appropriateness, Risk Factors, Clinical Outcomes and Predication on Medication Related Harm Post- Discharge From a Hospital for Surgical Patients
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of polypharmacy and perioperative outcomes: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of perioperative practicePooled it
- Electronic pharmaceutical record for best possible medication history at preoperative evaluation to prevent postoperative adverse events: a quasi-experimental study.BMJ open quality · 2025Trial
- Association of polypharmacy and medication class diversity with postoperative complications following operative ankle fracture repair.Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) · 2026Article
- The incidence and clinical variables associated with new and new persistent benzodiazepine use after admission to internal medicine: a retrospective study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Patient, carer and healthcare professional perspectives on deprescribing in surgical wards: A mixed methods study.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Article
- Retrospective multi-centre cohort study of polypharmacy, the Drug Burden Index and associations with outcomes in older surgical inpatients.Age and ageing · 2025Article
- Article
- Possible negative impact of polypharmacy on surgical outcomes in older patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of preoperative polypharmacy and the incidence of postoperative polypharmacy/hyper-polypharmacy in surgical patients and their association with adverse outcomes.
methodsThis was a retrospective, population-based cohort study among patients older than or equal to 18 years undergoing surgery at a university hospital between 2005 and 2018. Patients were categorized based on the number of medications: non-polypharmacy (fewer than 5); polypharmacy (5-9); and hyper-polypharmacy (greater than or equal to 10). The 30-day mortality, prolonged hospitalization (greater than or equal to 10 days), and incidence of readmission were compared between medication-use categories.
resultsAmong 55 997 patients, the prevalence of preoperative polypharmacy was 32.3 per cent (95 per cent c.i. 33.5 to 34.3) and the prevalence of hyper-polypharmacy was 25.5 per cent (95 per cent c.i. 25.2 to 25.9). Thirty-day mortality was higher for patients exposed to preoperative hyper-polypharmacy (2.3 per cent) and preoperative polypharmacy (0.8 per cent) compared with those exposed to non-polypharmacy (0.6 per cent) (P < 0.001). The hazards ratio (HR) of long-term mortality was higher for patients exposed to hyper-polypharmacy (HR 1.32 (95 per cent c.i. 1.25 to 1.40)) and polypharmacy (HR 1.07 (95 per cent c.i. 1.01 to 1.14)) after adjustment for patient and procedural variables. The incidence of longer hospitalization (greater than or equal to 10 days) was higher for hyper-polypharmacy (11.3 per cent) and polypharmacy (6.3 per cent) compared with non-polypharmacy (4.1 per cent) (P < 0.001). The 30-day incidence of readmission was higher for patients exposed to hyper-polypharmacy (10.2 per cent) compared with polypharmacy (6.1 per cent) and non-polypharmacy (4.8 per cent) (P < 0.001). Among patients not exposed to polypharmacy, the incidence of new postoperative polypharmacy/hyper-polypharmacy was 33.4 per cent (95 per cent c.i. 32.8 to 34.1), and, for patients exposed to preoperative polypharmacy, the incidence of postoperative hyper-polypharmacy was 16.3 per cent (95 per cent c.i. 16.0 to 16.7).
conclusionPreoperative polypharmacy and new postoperative polypharmacy/hyper-polypharmacy are common and associated with adverse outcomes. This highlights the need for increased emphasis on optimizing medication usage throughout the perioperative interval. REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04805151 (http://clinicaltrials.gov).
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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.