RESUMO
Background: A growing body of evidence points to potential risks associated with polypharmacy (using ≥5 medications) in older adults, but most evidence is derived from studies where racial and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented among research participants. Objective: Investigate the association between polypharmacy and cognitive function, subjective health state, frailty, and falls in Hispanic older adults. Methods: Panama Aging Research Initiative-Health Disparities (PARI-HD) is a community-based cohort study of older adults free of dementia at baseline. Cognitive function was measured with a neuropsychological test battery. Frailty assessment was based on the Fried criteria. Subjective health state and falls were self-reported. Linear and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine association. Results: Baseline evaluations of 468 individuals with a mean age of 69.9 years (SDâ=â6.8) were included. The median number of medications was 2 (IQR: 1-4); the rate of polypharmacy was 19.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]â=â16.1-23.3). Polypharmacy was inversely associated with self-rated overall health (bâ=-5.89, pâ<â0.01). Polypharmacy users had 2.3 times higher odds of reporting two or more falls in the previous 12 months (odds ratio [OR]â=â2.31, 95% CIâ=â1.06-5.04). Polypharmacy was independently associated with Fried's criteria for pre-frailty (ORâ=â2.90, 95% CIâ=â1.36-5.96) and frailty (ORâ=â5.14, 95% CIâ=â1.83-14.42). Polypharmacy was not associated with cognitive impairment. Conclusions: These findings illustrate the potential risks associated with polypharmacy among older adults in Panama and may inform interventions to improve health outcomes in this population.