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ToolsRichardson, Kathryn, Ananou, Alexandrine, Lafortune, Louise, Brayne, Carol and Matthews, Fiona E. (2011) Variation over time in the association between polypharmacy and mortality in the older population. Drugs and Aging, 28 (7). pp. 547-560. ISSN 1170-229X
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Background: In the older population, multimorbidity is common and best practice may invite the prescription of multiple medications. Objective: To examine the association between polypharmacy, defined as the concurrent use of five or more prescription or nonprescription medications, and mortality in 12 423 participants aged <65 years representative of the older population of England and Wales. Methods: Data on self-reportedmedication use, disability and health conditions were collected at baseline in 19913. The cohort was followed for up to 18 years with full mortality notification. Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for age, baseline institutionalization, smoking, disability and health conditions was used to investigate polypharmacy and mortality, stratified by sex. Various methods for modelling the time-varying effect of polypharmacy are presented. Results: A strong independent association between polypharmacy and mortality existed in the short-term (first 2 years) for bothmen andwomen. This association remained, although attenuated, in the medium-long term (218 years of followup) for women, but became non-significant in the longer term for men. Conclusions: It remains unclear whether polypharmacy is a marker for poor health or is an independent risk factor for mortality. However, polypharmacy strongly predicts adverse outcomes, and multiple medication use should therefore be carefully monitored in the older population.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Acknowledgements: The Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (CFAS) is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), UK. FM is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (U.1052.00.0013). We are grateful to the respondents, their families and their family practices for all their help in the study. The MRC CFAS is a member study of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research & Care (CLAHRC). The funders had no role in the preparation of this article. The authors have no conflicts of interests relevant to the content of this study. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | drug-utilisation,elderly,mortality,prescribing,geriatrics and gerontology,pharmacology (medical) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2717 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Public Health |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Aug 2025 08:30 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Aug 2025 10:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100127 |
| DOI: | 10.2165/11592000-000000000-00000 |
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