Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics of 2010 Fee-for-Service Medicaid Enrollees in West Virginia and Maryland (n = 38,329)
| Polypharmacy patients, n (%)a | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | All eligible patients, n (%) | Definition 1 | Definition 2 | Definition 3 |
| 38,329 (100) | 19,500 (50.9) | 6404 (16.7) | 24,882 (64.9) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 15,636 (40.8) | 6937 (35.6) | 1568 (24.5) | 8670 (34.8) |
| Female | 22,693 (59.2) | 12,563 (64.4) | 4836 (75.5) | 16,212 (65.2) |
| Age group, years | ||||
| 18–34 | 6358 (16.6) | 1442 (7.4) | 273 (4.3) | 2533 (10.2) |
| 35–44 | 6945 (18.1) | 3012 (15.5) | 859 (13.4) | 4219 (17.0) |
| 45–54 | 13,121 (34.2) | 7335 (37.6) | 2425 (37.9) | 9193 (37.0) |
| 55–64 | 11,905 (31.1) | 7711 (39.5) | 2847 (44.5) | 8937 (35.9) |
| Race | ||||
| White | 34,706 (90.6) | 18,054 (92.6) | 6049 (94.5) | 22,971 (92.3) |
| Nonwhite | 3623 (9.5) | 1446 (7.4) | 355 (5.5) | 1911 (7.7) |
| State | ||||
| West Virginia | 34,662 (90.4) | 18,078 (92.7) | 6072 (94.8) | 23,037 (92.6) |
| Maryland | 3667 (9.6) | 1422 (7.3) | 332 (5.2) | 1845 (7.4) |
| Medicaid pathway to eligibility | ||||
| Cash eligibility | 31,451 (82.1) | 16,599 (85.1) | 5659 (88.4) | 20,882 (83.9) |
| Others | 6878 (17.9) | 2901 (14.9) | 745 (11.6) | 4000 (16.1) |
| No. of chronic conditionsb | ||||
| 1 chronic condition | 13,624 (35.5) | 3574 (18.3) | 493 (7.7) | 5392 (21.7) |
| 2 chronic conditions | 9891 (25.8) | 4979 (25.5) | 1046 (16.3) | 6577 (26.4) |
| 3 chronic conditions | 6705 (17.5) | 4445 (22.8) | 1390 (21.7) | 5463 (22.0) |
| ≥4 chronic conditions | 8109 (21.2) | 6502 (33.3) | 3475 (54.3) | 7450 (29.9) |
Definition-1 (new polypharmacy definition) is the simultaneous use of ≥5 different drug classes for a 60-day consecutive period; Definition-2 is the average number of drug classes that was 1 standard deviation above the mean in a 90-day period; Definition-3 is >5 different drug classes used in an arbitrary 90-day period.
Chronic conditions included in the list were: hypertension, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperlipidemia, stroke, arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, depression, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, and substance abuse disorders.