Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population.
| Variable | All (n = 4,023) | 0–4 drugs (n = 1,042) | 5–9 drugs (n = 2,002) | 10+ drugs (n = 979) | p-valueA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Age (mean, SD) | 83.6 (9.4) | 83.4 (10.3) | 83.7 (9.1) | 83.3 (9.4) | 0.461 |
| Female | 2,945 (73.2) | 765 (73.4) | 1,478 (73.8) | 702 (71.7) | 0.463 |
| Parkinson's disease | 276 (6.9) | 55 (5.3) | 132 (6.6) | 89 (9.1)b | 0.003 |
| Stroke | 886 (22.1) | 195 (18.9) | 456 (22.8)b | 234 (24.0)b | 0.012 |
| Heart failure | 708 (17.7) | 98 (9.5) | 360 (18.0)b | 250 (25.8)b | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 435 (10.9) | 74 (7.1) | 230 (11.5)b | 131 (13.4)b | <0.001 |
| Dementia | 1,445 (36.1) | 403 (38.9) | 763 (38.2) | 279 (28.7)b | <0.001 |
| Depressive symptoms | 956 (23.9) | 157 (15.2)a | 495 (24.8)b | 304 (31.2)c | <0.001 |
| Multimorbidity | 1,636 (40.6) | 287 (27.9)a | 853 (42.8)b | 496 (52.9)c | <0.001 |
| Frailty | 1,878 (47.0) | 533 (51.6) | 919 (46.2)b | 426 (44.1)b | 0.002 |
| Cognitive impairment (CPS) | <0.001 | ||||
| 0–1: intact/borderline | 1,880 (46.7) | 405 (40.2)a | 921 (46.4)b | 554 (57.0)c | |
| 2–4: mild-moderate | 851 (21.2) | 195 (19.4) | 434 (21.9) | 222 (22.8) | |
| 5–6: severe | 1,234 (30.7) | 407 (40.4)a | 631 (31.8)b | 196 (20.2)c | |
| Disability (ADLs) | 0.147 | ||||
| 0–4: absent | 2,778 (69.2) | 743 (71.7) | 1,368 (68.5) | 667 (68.2) | |
| 5–6: present | 1,234 (30.8) | 294 (28.4) | 629 (34.5) | 311 (31.8) |
ADL, activities of daily living; CPS, cognitive performance scale.
Each subscript letter indicates polypharmacy categories whose proportions are comparable at level 0.05.
A
Age assessed with Anova with Tukey post-Hoc, all other variables assessed with Pearson's Chi-square with Z-test (Bonferroni post-Hoc).