Polypharmacy prevalence among older adults based on the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe

Abstract

Polypharmacy, a common condition among the elderly, is associated with adverse outcomes, including increased healthcare costs, due to higher mortality, falls and hospitalizations rates, adverse drug reactions, drug-drug reactions and medication nonadherence. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and factors related to polypharmacy in older adults across 17 European countries, plus Israel. In this cross-sectional analysis, we used data from participants aged 65 or more years from Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) database. Polypharmacy was defined as the concurrent use of five or more medications. Age, gender, education, physical inactivity, number of limitations with activities of daily living, network satisfaction, quality of life, depression, number of chronic diseases and difficulty taking medication variables were found to be associated with polypharmacy. Our results showed a prevalence of polypharmacy ranging from 26.3 to 39.9%. Switzerland, Croatia and Slovenia were the countries with the lowest prevalence, whereas Portugal, Israel and the Czech Republic were the countries where the prevalence of polypharmacy was the highest. Age, gender, number of limitations with activities of daily living, number of chronic diseases, quality of life, depression, physical inactivity, network satisfaction, difficulty in taking medications, years of education and shortage of money were significant variables associated with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy is a highly prevalent condition in the elderly population. Identification of variables associated with polypharmacy, such as those identified in this study, is important to identify and monitor elderly groups, which are most vulnerable to polypharmacy.