The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study
Abstract Background To describe the development of polypharmacy and its components in a British birth cohort in its seventh decade and to investigate socioeconomic and gender differences independent of disease burden. Methods Data from the MRC National Survey for Health and Development were analysed...
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doaj-c87a9ad5c8324e76b2f2cbe0d0b0441f2020-11-25T03:57:03ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182018-05-0118111210.1186/s12877-018-0795-2The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort studyMark James Rawle0Marcus Richards1Daniel Davis2Diana Kuh3Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College LondonMedical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College LondonMedical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College LondonMedical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College LondonAbstract Background To describe the development of polypharmacy and its components in a British birth cohort in its seventh decade and to investigate socioeconomic and gender differences independent of disease burden. Methods Data from the MRC National Survey for Health and Development were analysed to determine the prevalence and composition of polypharmacy at age 69 and changes since ages 60 to 64. Multinomial regression was used to test associations between gender, education and occupational social class and total, cardiological and non-cardiological polypharmacy controlling for disease burden. Results At age 69, 22.8% of individuals were taking more than 5 medications. There was an increase in the use of 5 to 8 medications (+ 2.3%) and over 9 medications (+ 0.8%) between ages 60–64 and 69. The greatest increases were found for cardiovascular (+ 13.4%) and gastrointestinal medications (+ 7.3%). Men experienced greater cardiological polypharmacy, women greater non-cardiological polypharmacy. Higher levels of education were associated with lower polypharmacy independent of disease burden, with strongest effects seen for over five cardiological medications (RRR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2–0.5 p < 0.001 for advanced secondary qualifications compared with no qualification); there was no additional effect of social class. Conclusions Polypharmacy increased over the seventh decade. Those with lower levels of education had more polypharmacy (total, cardiological and non-cardiological), even allowing for disease burden. Further analysis of future outcomes resulting from polypharmacy should take into account educational and gender differences, in an effort to identify at-risk populations who could benefit from medication reviews.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-018-0795-2PolypharmacyEducationSocial classSocioeconomic positionEpidemiologyDisease burden |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mark James Rawle Marcus Richards Daniel Davis Diana Kuh |
spellingShingle |
Mark James Rawle Marcus Richards Daniel Davis Diana Kuh The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study BMC Geriatrics Polypharmacy Education Social class Socioeconomic position Epidemiology Disease burden |
author_facet |
Mark James Rawle Marcus Richards Daniel Davis Diana Kuh |
author_sort |
Mark James Rawle |
title |
The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study |
title_short |
The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study |
title_full |
The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study |
title_fullStr |
The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study |
title_full_unstemmed |
The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study |
title_sort |
prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a british birth cohort study |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Geriatrics |
issn |
1471-2318 |
publishDate |
2018-05-01 |
description |
Abstract Background To describe the development of polypharmacy and its components in a British birth cohort in its seventh decade and to investigate socioeconomic and gender differences independent of disease burden. Methods Data from the MRC National Survey for Health and Development were analysed to determine the prevalence and composition of polypharmacy at age 69 and changes since ages 60 to 64. Multinomial regression was used to test associations between gender, education and occupational social class and total, cardiological and non-cardiological polypharmacy controlling for disease burden. Results At age 69, 22.8% of individuals were taking more than 5 medications. There was an increase in the use of 5 to 8 medications (+ 2.3%) and over 9 medications (+ 0.8%) between ages 60–64 and 69. The greatest increases were found for cardiovascular (+ 13.4%) and gastrointestinal medications (+ 7.3%). Men experienced greater cardiological polypharmacy, women greater non-cardiological polypharmacy. Higher levels of education were associated with lower polypharmacy independent of disease burden, with strongest effects seen for over five cardiological medications (RRR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2–0.5 p < 0.001 for advanced secondary qualifications compared with no qualification); there was no additional effect of social class. Conclusions Polypharmacy increased over the seventh decade. Those with lower levels of education had more polypharmacy (total, cardiological and non-cardiological), even allowing for disease burden. Further analysis of future outcomes resulting from polypharmacy should take into account educational and gender differences, in an effort to identify at-risk populations who could benefit from medication reviews. |
topic |
Polypharmacy Education Social class Socioeconomic position Epidemiology Disease burden |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-018-0795-2 |
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