TABLE 2.
Medication‐related problems by multimorbidity or non‐multimorbidity group
| Medication‐related problems by multimorbidity or non‐multimorbidity group (916 619 older people, Catalonia, 2012) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non‐multimorbidity (n = 63 534) | Multimorbidity (2‐4 diseases) (n = 268 836) | Multimorbidity (5‐9 diseases) (n = 463 709) | Multimorbidity (≥10 diseases) (n = 120 540) | All (N = 916 619) | |
| Medication‐related problems | |||||
| Duplicate therapy, n (%) | 1184 (1.86) | 18 120 (6.74) | 58 548 (12.63) | 24 231 (20.10) | 102 083 (11.14) |
| Drug‐drug interactions, n (%) | 72 (0.11) | 1112 (0.41) | 4772 (1.03) | 3073 (2.55) | 9029 (0.99) |
| Contraindicated drugs in chronic kidney disease, n (%) | 36 (0.06) | 8348 (3.11) | 64 466 (13.90) | 37 710 (31.28) | 110 560 (12.06) |
| Contraindicated drugs in liver disease, n (%) | 178 (0.28) | 5548 (2.06) | 21 714 (4.68) | 10 643 (8.83) | 38 083 (4.15) |
| Potentially inappropriate medication, n (%) | 10 247 (16.13) | 124 847 (46.44) | 333 922 (72.01) | 106 120 (88.04) | 575 136 (62.75) |
| Potentially inappropriate medications by multimorbidity or non‐multimorbidity group (575 136 older people, Catalonia, 2012) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non‐multimorbidity (n = 10 247) | Multimorbidity (2‐4 diseases) (n = 124 847) | Multimorbidity (5‐9 diseases) (n = 333 922) | Multimorbidity (≥10 diseases) (n = 106 120) | All (N = 575 136) | |
| Patients taking drugs with anticholinergic effect‐anticholinergic load a | |||||
| Score = 1 | 2009 (19.61) | 22 841 (18.30) | 70 393 (21.08) | 26 846 (25.30) | 122 089 (21.23) |
| Score = 2 | 866 (8.45) | 11 850 (9.49) | 42 212 (12.64) | 17 483 (16.47) | 72 411 (12.59) |
| Score = 3‐5 | 284 (2.77) | 3939 (3.16) | 18 237 (5.46) | 10 426 (9.82) | 32 886 (5.72) |
| Score ≥ 6 | 6 (0.06) | 116 (0.09) | 592 (0.18) | 452 (0.43) | 1166 (0.20) |
| Patients taking drugs and risk of fall | 6505 (63.48) | 77 738 (62.27) | 221 337 (66.28) | 78 756 (74.21) | 384 336 (66.83) |
| Patients taking drugs that affect QT interval | 1291 (12.60) | 16 971 (13.59) | 62 146 (18.61) | 28 477 (26.83) | 108 885 (18.93) |
| Patients taking antiulcer agents without criteria for gastroprotection | 2928 (28.57) | 41 150 (32.96) | 137 713 (41.24) | 51 485 (48.52) | 233 276 (40.56) |
| Other drugs not recommended for older people | 2078 (20.28) | 36 840 (29.51) | 129 781 (38.87) | 53 002 (49.95) | 221 701 (38.55) |
| Patients needing gastroprotection | 25 (0.24) | 341 (0.27) | 886 (0.27) | 222 (0.21) | 1474 (0.26) |
Note: All variables of the table showed a significant difference (P < .001) between groups.
a
Score = 0, not shown.