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Polypharmacy Among Adults Aged 65 Years and Older in the United States: 1988–2010
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Older adults frequently have several chronic health conditions which require multiple medications. We illustrated trends in prescription medication use over 20 years in the United States, and described characteristics of older adults using multiple medications in 2009-2010. METHODS: Participants included 13,869 adults aged 65 years and older in the National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-2010). Prescription medication use was verified by medication containers. Potentially inappropriate medications were defined by the 2003 Beers Criteria. RESULTS: Between 1988 and 2010 the median number of prescription medications used among adults aged 65 and older doubled from 2 to 4, and the proportion taking ≥5 medications tripled from 12.8% (95% confidence interval: 11.1, 14.8) to 39.0% (35.8, 42.3).These increases were driven, in part, by rising use of cardioprotective and antidepressant medications. Use of potentially inappropriate medications decreased from 28.2% (25.5, 31.0) to 15.1% (13.2, 17.3) between 1988 and 2010. Higher medication use was associated with higher prevalence of functional limitation, activities of daily living limitation, and confusion/memory problems in 2009-2010, although these associations did not remain after adjustment for covariates. In multivariable models, older age, number of chronic conditions, and annual health care visits were associated with increased odds of using both 1-4 and ≥5 medications. Additionally, body mass index, higher income-poverty ratio, former smoking, and non-black non-white race were associated with use of ≥5 medications. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription medication use increased dramatically among older adults between 1988 and 2010. Contemporary older adults on multiple medications have worse health status compared with those on less medications, and appear to be a vulnerable population.
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“and this number had tripled from that 20 years ago [3]”
From Benefits of, Barriers to, and Needs for an Artificial Intelligence–Powered Medication Information Voice Chatbot for Older Adults: Interview Study With Geriatrics Experts (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
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“One study estimated that 39% of older adults had ≥5 concurrent prescriptions”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Charlesworth, C. J., Smit, E., Lee, D. S. H., Alramadhan, F., & Odden, M. C.
- Affiliations
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Odden, Michelle C.
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-03-01
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 989-995
- ISSN
- 1079-5006 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-535X
- PMC
- PMC4573668
- OpenAlex
- W2137024248
- Cited by
- 570
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 119 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 12
- FWCI
- 18.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Heart Association
- National Institute on Aging (K01AG039387)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- polypharmacy, older adults, prescription drug use, potentially inappropriate medications, Beers criteria, temporal trends, chronic disease, functional limitations, activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, cardioprotective drugs, antidepressants, health care utilization, sociodemographic factors
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Male, Time Factors, United States, Polypharmacy
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