ArticleGlobal health research and policy2023
Prevalence and trends of polypharmacy in U.S. adults, 1999-2018.
Article in Global health research and policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring medication self-management in polypharmacy: a qualitative systematic review of patients and healthcare providers perspectives.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- 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
- Impact of medication nonadherence and drug-drug interaction testing on the management of primary care patients with polypharmacy: a randomized controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2024Trial
- Navigating uncertainty matters: Evaluating large language models for drug-drug interaction identification.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2026Article
- Appropriateness over Numbers: Pharmacological Burden and Scalable Medication Review in Older Adults.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Assessing Associations of Three Types of Higher-Risk Medication Use and Mortality in Older Adults.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Development and evaluation of an e-learning program on drug-related problems for community pharmacists.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Article
- Healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards deprescribing in Gondar City, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- A Pilot Study to Describe Cardiometabolic Health Indicators and Prescription Medication Use in Postmenopausal Women with a Self-Reported History of PMOS.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Polypharmacy in Adults With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Arthritis care & research · 2026Article
- Trends in Polypharmacy Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Report From the Finnish AntiCoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Nationwide Cohort Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Pillbox and patient-oriented manual interventions to improve medication knowledge, attitudes, and practices among older adults with multimorbidity in Shanghai, China.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Trends and expenditures in polypharmacy and hyperpolypharmacy among older adults in the United States, 2002-2017.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Association Between Polypharmacy and Physical Function in Middle-aged Adults: Findings from the CARDIA Function Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- MHAFR-DDI: a multimodal hierarchical attention fusion and relation-aware architecture for drug-drug interaction event prediction.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2026Article
- Drug-drug interactions between sex hormones and analgesics linked to thromboembolic events: an FDA adverse event reporting system analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Menopause-associated gut microbiome remodeling and pharmacomicrobiomics: emerging mechanisms influencing drug response.Frontiers in microbiomes · 2026Review
- Impact of polypharmacy on oral health in the elderly: challenges and management.Frontiers in dental medicine · 2026Review
- Understanding Undergraduate Medicines Optimisation Education and Its Importance; a Realist Evaluation.Perspectives on medical education · 2026Article
- Obesity and Pharmacokinetic Variability: Implications for Cardiovascular Therapeutics.European cardiology · 2026Review
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPolypharmacy is one of the most important health issues for its potential impacts on disease burden and healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to update a comprehensive picture of prevalence and trends in polypharmacy over 20 years in U.S. adults.
methodsParticipants included 55,081 adults aged ≥ 20 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, January 1, 1999, through December 31, 2018. The simultaneously use of ≥ 5 drugs in one individual was defined as polypharmacy. National prevalence and trends in polypharmacy were evaluated among U.S. adults within different demo-socioeconomic status and pre-existing diseases.
resultsFrom 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, the overall percentages of adults with polypharmacy remained on the rise, increasing from 8.2% (7.2-9.2%) to 17.1% (15.7-18.5%) (average annual percentage change [AAPC] = 2.9%, P = .001). The polypharmacy prevalence was considerably higher in the elderly (from 23.5% to 44.1%), in adults with heart disease (from 40.6% to 61.7%), and in adults with diabetes (from 36.3% to 57.7%). Also, we observed a greater increase rate of polypharmacy in men (AAPC = 4.1%, P < .001), in the Mexican American (AAPC = 6.3%, P < .001), and in the non-Hispanic Black (AAPC = 4.4%, P < .001).
conclusionsFrom 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, the prevalence of polypharmacy is continually increasing in U.S. adults. The polypharmacy was especially higher in the older, in patients with heart disease, or diabetes. The high prevalence urges the healthcare providers and health policymakers to manage polypharmacy among specific population groups.
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