RT Journal Article
T1 Prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in the older people: 2006-2014.
A1 Carmona-Torres, Juan Manuel
A1 Cobo-Cuenca, Ana Isabel
A1 Recio-Andrade, Beatriz
A1 Laredo-Aguilera, Jose Alberto
A1 Martins, Maria Manuela
A1 Rodriguez-Borrego, Maria Aurora
K1 Spain
K1 Aged
K1 Medication
K1 Polypharmacy
K1 Public health
K1 Self-medication
AB To analyse the prevalence, risk factors and evolution over time of polypharmacy and self-medication in the older people in Spain from 2006-2014. Polypharmacy is a public health problem for older people worldwide which causes different negative effects on their health, increasing health costs and pharmaceutical spending. However, previous studies do not include nationally representative samples and none of them provide updated data. Cross-sectional study with community-dwelling older adults (N = 26,277) who participated in the National Health Survey in Spain in 2006 and 2011/2012 and the European Health Survey in Spain in 2009 and 2014. Polypharmacy (defined as use of five or more medications in the last 2 weeks), excessive polypharmacy (defined as use of ten or more medications in the last 2 weeks) and self-medication (defined as use of medications without a prescription) were evaluated. A logistic regression was used for to know the association between polypharmacy and self-medication with the sociodemographic characteristic. The participants were 62% female and 38% male. The mean medication consumption was 2.96 (SD ± 2.11). Prevalence of polypharmacy was present in 21.9%, prevalence of excessive polypharmacy was 0.6%, and prevalence of self-medication was 10.7%. The most commonly used medications were for blood pressure (51.6%), pain (42.8%) and cholesterol (28.2%). Polypharmacy is associated with sex (females), age, being separated/divorced/widowed, lack of education, higher body mass index, being bedridden during the last 2 weeks and self-medication. The prevalence of polypharmacy and prevalence of self-medication are considerable, and they increased significantly from 2006-2014. To deal with polypharmacy is a big challenge for nurses. These data suggest to establish innovative clinical strategies in which the health professionals and the patients are involved to improve the personal behaviour with medicines and to reduce the risks and costs of polypharmacy and self-medication.
PB Wiley
YR 2018
FD 2018-03-18
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/12293
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/12293
LA en
NO Carmona-Torres JM, Cobo-Cuenca AI, Recio-Andrade B, Laredo-Aguilera JA, Martins MM, Rodríguez-Borrego MA. Prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in the older people: 2006-2014. J Clin Nurs. 2018 Aug;27(15-16):2942-2952
DS RISalud
RD Apr 10, 2025