Combined Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy Patterns in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Health Care.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(17)2021 09 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34501805
ABSTRACT
(1) Background:
The acquisition of multiple chronic diseases, known as multimorbidity, is common in the elderly population, and it is often treated with the simultaneous consumption of several prescription drugs, known as polypharmacy. These two concepts are inherently related and cause an undue burden on the individual. The aim of this study was to identify combined multimorbidity and polypharmacy patterns for the elderly population in Catalonia. (2)Methods:
A cross-sectional study using electronic health records from 2012 was conducted. A mapping process was performed linking chronic disease categories to the drug categories indicated for their treatment. A soft clustering technique was then carried out on the final mapped categories. (3)Results:
916,619 individuals were included, with 93.1% meeting the authors' criteria for multimorbidity and 49.9% for polypharmacy. A seven-cluster solution was identified one non-specific (Cluster 1) and six specific, corresponding to diabetes (Cluster 2), neurological and musculoskeletal, female dominant (Clusters 3 and 4) and cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and renal diseases (Clusters 5 and 6), and multi-system diseases (Cluster 7). (4)Conclusions:
This study utilized a mapping process combined with a soft clustering technique to determine combined patterns of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in the elderly population, identifying overrepresentation in six of the seven clusters with chronic disease and chronic disease-drug categories. These results could be applied to clinical practice guidelines in order to better attend to patient needs. This study can serve as the foundation for future longitudinal regarding relationships between multimorbidity and polypharmacy.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Múltiplas Afecções Crônicas
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Multimorbidade
Tipo de estudo:
Guideline
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Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
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Female
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Environ Res Public Health
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article