Table 3.
Prevalence of medication use and associated demographic factors.
| No Drug | 1 Drug | 2–3 Drugs | ≥4 Drugs | Single-Variable Analysis | Multi-Variable Analysis | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (row %) | N (row %) | N (row %) | N (row %) | OR (95%CI) | OR (95%CI) | ||
| Total | 6915 (47.7) | 2807 (19.4) | 3025 (20.9) | 1738 (12.0) | - | - | |
| Age | |||||||
| 20–49 yr | 2719 (65.7) | 873 (21.1) | 438 (10.6) | 110 (2.7) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| 50–59 yr | 2100 (53.8) | 788 (20.2) | 726 (18.6) | 289 (7.4) | 1.75 (1.61–1.91) *** | 1.66 (1.52–1.81) *** | |
| 60–69 yr | 1393 (37.2) | 726 (19.4) | 1012 (27.1) | 615 (16.4) | 3.71 (3.4–4.04) *** | 3.44 (3.14–3.76) *** | |
| 70–79 yr | 402 (24.0) | 272 (16.3) | 559 (33.4) | 441 (26.3) | 7.17 (6.43–7.99) *** | 7.21 (6.45–8.05) *** | |
| ≥80 yr | 301 (29.5) | 148 (14.5) | 290 (28.4) | 283 (27.7) | 6.38 (5.59–7.28) *** | 6.47 (5.65–7.41) *** | |
| Ethnicity | |||||||
| NZ European | 4916 (45.8) | 2180 (20.3) | 2336 (21.8) | 1295 (12.1) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| Māori | 730 (53.0) | 217 (15.8) | 258 (18.8) | 172 (12.5) | 0.82 (0.73–0.91) *** | 1.02 (0.90–1.14) | |
| Pacific Peoples | 469 (54.4) | 131 (15.2) | 162 (18.8) | 101 (11.7) | 0.77 (0.68–0.88) *** | 0.99 (0.86–1.14) | |
| Asian | 650 (54.6) | 215 (18.1) | 201 (16.9) | 124 (10.4) | 0.73 (0.65–0.81) *** | 1.03 (0.92–1.16) | |
| Other/Unknown | 150 (45.7) | 64 (19.5) | 68 (20.7) | 46 (14.02) | 1.04 (0.85–1.27) | 1.17 (0.95–1.44) | |
| Facility | |||||||
| Public | 4408 (46.5) | 1737 (18.3) | 2007 (21.1) | 1329 (14.0) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| Private | 2507 (50.1) | 1070 (21.4) | 1018 (20.4) | 409 (8.2) | 0.79 (0.74–0.84) *** | 0.90 (0.84–0.96) ** | |
| NZDep2013 | |||||||
| NZDep 1–2 | 1291 (50.0) | 555 (21.5) | 494 (19.2) | 242 (9.4) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| NZDep 3–4 | 1348 (47.6) | 581 (20.5) | 602 (21.3) | 302 (10.7) | 1.12 (1.02–1.24) * | 1.08 (0.98–1.20) | |
| NZDep 5–6 | 1321 (45.5) | 562 (19.4) | 640 (22.1) | 378 (13.0) | 1.26 (1.14–1.39) *** | 1.13 (1.02–1.25) * | |
| NZDep 7–8 | 977 (44.9) | 409 (18.8) | 493 (22.6) | 298 (13.7) | 1.31 (1.18–1.46) *** | 1.21 (1.08–1.35) *** | |
| NZDep 9–10 | 1060 (50.4) | 341 (16.2) | 423 (20.1) | 281 (13.4) | 1.11 (0.99–1.23) | 1.07 (0.95–1.20) | |
| Unknown | 918 (48.7) | 359 (19.0) | 373 (19.7) | 237 (12.6) | 1.13 (1.01–1.26) * | 0.97 (0.82–1.14) | |
| Region | |||||||
| Auckland | 3952 (49.6) | 1523 (19.1) | 1593 (20.0) | 894 (11.2) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| Christchurch | 1003 (42.6) | 503 (21.4) | 562 (23.9) | 286 (12.2) | 1.26 (1.16–1.37) *** | 1.16 (1.06–1.27) *** | |
| Waikato | 995 (45.8) | 383 (17.6) | 468 (21.5) | 329 (15.1) | 1.24 (1.13–1.35) *** | 1.10 (1.00–1.21) * | |
| Wellington | 965 (48.4) | 398 (20.0) | 402 (20.1) | 229 (11.5) | 1.04 (0.95–1.14) | 1.12 (0.97–1.30) | |
| Screen-detected | |||||||
| No | 4088 (49.1) | 1613 (19.4) | 1610 (19.3) | 1014 (12.2) | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| Yes | 2827 (45.9) | 1194 (19.4) | 1415 (22.9) | 724 (11.8) | 1.12 (1.05–1.19) *** | 1.21 (1.13–1.30) *** | |
* p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, *** p ≤ 0.001; Note: Analysis using ordered logistic regression; the outcome variable is the number of drugs used, grouped into 4 categories: No drug, 1 drug, 2–3 drugs, and ≥4 drugs. Drugs refer to non-anti-cancer drugs dispensed between 1 year before cancer diagnosis date and first cancer treatment date, dispensed for at least 90 days.