Table 1.
Patients’ characteristics
| Non-polypharmacy (706) | Polypharmacy (873) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 74.07±9.11 | 77.28±8.45 | 0.000 |
| Female, n (%) | 458 (64.9%) | 566 (63.6%) | 0.593 |
| Education (years) | 7.12±4.67 | 6.53±4.52 | 0.025 |
| Comorbidities (%) | |||
| Depression | 28.1 | 34.1 | 0.013 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 5.2 | 12.0 | 0.000 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 12.6 | 39.9 | 0.000 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 13.7 | 22.5 | 0.000 |
| Hypertension | 54.1 | 79.3 | 0.000 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 9.2 | 29.8 | 0.000 |
| Congestive heart failure | 2.8 | 11.3 | 0.000 |
| Peripheral artery disease | 3.0 | 3.4 | 0.667 |
| COPD | 3.4 | 13.3 | 0.000 |
| Thyroid disease | 12.9 | 40.4 | 0.148 |
| Osteoporosis | 19.3 | 22.1 | 0.196 |
| Dementia | 12.2 | 20.9 | 0.000 |
| Falls (%) | 23.6 | 38.3 | 0.000 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | 0.57±0.83 | 1.35±1.08 | 0.000 |
| Comprehensive geriatric assessment | |||
| MMSE | 24.75±5.90 | 23.98±5.70 | 0.070 |
| COST | 23.36±5.48 | 22.26±6.20 | 0.062 |
| MoCA | 24.12±4.12 | 21.78±5.35 | 0.000 |
| YGDS | 3.14±3.44 | 3.72±3.59 | 0.008 |
| Basic ADL | 90.87±16.88 | 84.63±21.11 | 0.000 |
| Instrumental ADL | 12.13±5.13 | 10.06±6.06 | 0.000 |
| MNA | 11.56±2.37 | 10.87±2.52 | 0.000 |
| POMA-balance | 15.10±1.53 | 13.69±2.48 | 0.01 |
| POMA-gait | 11.26±1.18 | 10.58±1.72 | 0.026 |
| POMA-total | 26.36±2.55 | 24.27±3.88 | 0.002 |
| Up&Go (sec) | 10.54±3.44 | 14.12±7.18 | 0.002 |
| Laboratory tests | |||
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 0.84±0.28 | 1.01±0.53 | 0.000 |
| Thyroid stimulating hormone (uIU/mL) | 2.22±6.31 | 5.53±80.63 | 0.332 |
| Albumin | 4.04±0.48 | 3.95±0.47 | 0.002 |
| 25(OH)D (ng/mL) | 18.50±14.52 | 17.66±13.46 | 0.289 |
| Vitamin B12 (pmol/L) | 426.63±333.209 | 544.02±415.91 | 0.000 |
| Folic acid (ng/mL) | 8.80±4.72 | 8.77±5.39 | 0.904 |
Notes: COST: Cognitive State Test (0 [the worst]-30 [the best]); MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination (0 [the worst]-30 [the best]); MNA: Mini-Nutritional Assessment (0 [the worst]-14 [the best]); MoCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (0 [the worst]-30 [the best]); Basic ADLs: Basic Activities of Daily Living (0 [the worst]-100 [the best]); IADL: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (0 [the worst]-17 [the best]); POMA: Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment (0 [the worst]-28 [the best]); YGDS: Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (15 [the worst]-0 [the best]).