Table 3.
Most frequently used non-DMDs and DMDs among MS patients with and without polypharmacy.
| Total Polypharmacy | Rx Polypharmacy | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Patients | PwP | Pw/oP | p Fi | PwP | Pw/oP | p Fi | |
| N | 627 | 334 (53.3%) | 293 (46.7%) | 242 (38.6%) | 385 (61.4%) | ||
| Most used non-DMDs | |||||||
| Cholecalciferol | 261 (41.6%) | 178 (53.3%) | 83 (28.3%) | <0.001 | 125 (51.7%) | 136 (35.3%) | <0.001 |
| Pantoprazole | 178 (28.4%) | 155 (46.4%) | 23 (7.8%) | <0.001 | 144 (59.5%) | 34 (8.8%) | <0.001 |
| Enoxaparin | 127 (20.3%) | 114 (34.1%) | 13 (4.4%) | <0.001 | 105 (43.3%) | 22 (5.7%) | <0.001 |
| Ibuprofen | 105 (16.7%) | 61 (18.3%) | 44 (15.0%) | 0.286 | 41 (16.9%) | 64 (16.6%) | 0.913 |
| Baclofen | 78 (12.4%) | 72 (21.6%) | 6 (2.0%) | <0.001 | 68 (28.1%) | 10 (2.6%) | <0.001 |
| Levothyroxine | 75 (12.0%) | 51 (15.3%) | 24 (8.2%) | 0.007 | 41 (16.9%) | 34 (8.8%) | 0.003 |
| Cyanocobalamin | 66 (10.5%) | 46 (13.8%) | 20 (6.8%) | 0.006 | 27 (11.2%) | 39 (10.1%) | 0.690 |
| Zopiclone | 65 (10.4%) | 58 (17.4%) | 7 (2.4%) | <0.001 | 53 (21.9%) | 12 (3.1%) | <0.001 |
| Magnesium | 60 (9.6%) | 45 (13.5%) | 15 (5.1%) | <0.001 | 21 (8.7%) | 39 (10.1%) | 0.580 |
| Acetylsalicylic acid | 55 (8.8%) | 48 (14.4%) | 7 (2.4%) | <0.001 | 41 (16.9%) | 14 (3.6%) | <0.001 |
| DMDs (all, incl. methylprednisolone) | |||||||
| Methylprednisolone | 123 (19.6%) | 110 (32.9%) | 13 (4.4%) | <0.001 | 101 (41.7%) | 22 (5.7%) | <0.001 |
| Interferon beta-1a | 64 (10.2%) | 25 (7.5%) | 39 (13.3%) | 0.018 | 14 (5.8%) | 50 (13.0%) | 0.004 |
| Glatiramer acetate | 57 (9.1%) | 21 (6.3%) | 36 (12.3%) | 0.012 | 14 (5.8%) | 43 (11.2%) | 0.023 |
| Natalizumab | 47 (7.5%) | 18 (5.4%) | 29 (9.9%) | 0.034 | 9 (3.7%) | 38 (9.9%) | 0.005 |
| Fingolimod | 41 (6.5%) | 21 (6.3%) | 20 (6.8%) | 0.872 | 15 (6.2%) | 26 (6.8%) | 0.869 |
| Teriflunomide | 36 (5.7%) | 19 (5.7%) | 17 (5.8%) | 1.000 | 11 (4.5%) | 25 (6.5%) | 0.379 |
| Dimethyl fumarate | 32 (5.1%) | 10 (3.0%) | 22 (7.5%) | 0.011 | 8 (3.3%) | 24 (6.2%) | 0.135 |
| Mitoxantrone | 28 (4.5%) | 15 (4.5%) | 13 (4.4%) | 1.000 | 11 (4.5%) | 17 (4.4%) | 1.000 |
| Ocrelizumab | 27 (4.3%) | 25 (7.5%) | 2 (0.7%) | <0.001 | 19 (7.9%) | 8 (2.1%) | 0.001 |
| Interferon beta-1b | 23 (3.7%) | 9 (2.7%) | 14 (4.8%) | 0.203 | 7 (2.9%) | 16 (4.2%) | 0.515 |
| Alemtuzumab | 20 (3.4%) | 5 (1.5%) | 15 (5.1%) | 0.012 | 2 (0.8%) | 18 (4.7%) | 0.009 |
| Immunoglobulin G | 7 (1.1%) | 3 (0.3%) | 4 (1.4%) | 0.711 | 0 (0.0%) | 7 (1.8%) | 0.047 |
| Cladribine | 6 (1.0%) | 2 (0.6%) | 4 (1.4%) | 0.426 | 2 (0.8%) | 4 (1.0%) | 1.000 |
| Azathioprine | 4 (0.6%) | 2 (0.6%) | 2 (0.7%) | 1.000 | 1 (0.4%) | 3 (0.8%) | 1.000 |
| Rituximab | 2 (0.3%) | 1 (0.3%) | 1 (0.3%) | 1.000 | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.5%) | 0.525 |
Total polypharmacy = intake of at least five drugs (of any kind). Rx polypharmacy = intake of at least five drugs that were prescribed (neglecting OTC drugs). DMD—disease-modifying drug for the treatment of MS; Fi—Fisher’s exact test; MS—multiple sclerosis; N—number of patients; p—p-value for comparing patients with and without polypharmacy; PwP—patients with polypharmacy; Pw/oP—patients without polypharmacy; Rx—prescription.