Table 1.
Characteristics of the study participants
| Variables | All (n = 971) | With polypharmacy (n = 310) | Without polypharmacy (n = 661) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years (missing: 12) | 56.7 ± 11.6 | 62.2 ± 8.9 | 54.1 ± 11.8 | <0.001 |
| Female (missing: 0) | 607 (62.5) | 200 (64.5) | 407 (61.6) | 0.38 |
| Socio-economic class (missing: 36) | ||||
| Elite | 193 (20.6) | 44 (15.0) | 149 (23.2) | 0.001 |
| Middle-high | 419 (44.8) | 137 (46.8) | 282 (43.9) | |
| Middle-low | 199 (21.3) | 58 (19.8) | 141 (22.0) | |
| Low | 124 (13.3) | 54 (18.4) | 70 (10.9) | |
| BMI classification (missing: 56) | ||||
| <18.5 | 13 (1.4) | 4 (1.4) | 9 (1.4) | 0.05 |
| 18.5 to <25.0 | 295 (32.2) | 82 (28.0) | 213 (34.2) | |
| 25.0 to 29.9 | 351 (38.4) | 108 (36.9) | 243 (39.1) | |
| ≥30.0 | 256 (28.0) | 99 (33.8) | 157 (25.2) | |
| Number of chronic diseases (missing: 0) | ||||
| 0 | 195 (20.1) | 8 (2.6) | 187 (28.3) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 245 (25.2) | 31 (10.0) | 214 (32.4) | |
| 2 | 233 (24.0) | 81 (26.1) | 152 (23.0) | |
| ≥3 (multimorbidity) | 298 (30.7) | 190 (61.3) | 108 (16.3) | |
| Prevalence of individual chronic conditions (missing: 0) | ||||
| Hypertension | 357 (36.8) | 183 (59.0) | 174 (26.3) | <0.001 |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 329 (33.9) | 173 (55.8) | 156 (23.6) | <0.001 |
| Osteoarthritis | 270 (27.8) | 138 (44.5) | 132 (20.0) | <0.001 |
| Thyroid disorder | 154 (15.9) | 72 (23.2) | 82 (12.4) | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 118 (12.2) | 52 (16.8) | 66 (10.0) | 0.003 |
| Diabetes | 105 (10.8) | 76 (24.5) | 29 (4.4) | <0.001 |
| Colon problem | 89 (9.2) | 29 (9.4) | 60 (9.1) | 0.89 |
| Osteoporosis | 74 (7.6) | 43 (13.9) | 31 (4.7) | <0.001 |
| Angina/coronary artery disease | 93 (9.6) | 67 (21.6) | 26 (3.9) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 53 (5.5) | 36 (11.6) | 17 (2.6) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 43 (4.4) | 19 (6.1) | 24 (3.6) | 0.08 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 36 (3.7) | 20 (6.5) | 16 (2.4) | 0.002 |
| Stroke | 17 (1.8) | 8 (2.6) | 9 (1.4) | 0.18 |
| Heart failure | 23 (2.4) | 17 (5.5) | 6 (0.9) | <0.001 |
Continuous data are presented as mean ± standard deviation; categorical data are shown as n (%); P-values obtained with chi-square tests for categorical variables and Student’s t-tests for continuous variables. Source of subjects: the Program of Research on the Evolution of a Cohort Investigating Health System Effects (PRECISE), year of data collection: 2012.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.