TY - JOUR
T1 - Polypharmacy and health-related quality of life among us adults with arthritis, medical expenditure panel survey, 2010-2012
AU - Meraya, Abdulkarim M.
AU - Dwibedi, Nilanjana
AU - Sambamoorthi, Usha
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr Traci J. LeMasters for her contributions in revising some parts of the final drafts. This project was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, U54GM104942. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Introduction Our objective was to determine the relationship between polypharmacy (treatment with prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently) andhealth-relatedquality of life (HRQoL) among US adults with arthritis. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study that used2-year longitudinal data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to analyze a cohort of 6,132 adults aged over 21 years with arthritis. Measures of HRQoL were the summary scores from the mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) of the12-itemshort-formhealth survey. Unadjusted and adjusted regression models were used to evaluate the association between polypharmacy and HRQoL measures. We used SAS, version 9.4, (SAS Institute Inc) to conduct all analyses. Results In unadjusted analyses, adults with arthritis taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently had significantly lower MCS and PCS scores (β, -3.11, P < .001 and β, -10.26, P < .001, respectively) than adults taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6. After controlling for the demographic characteristics, number of mental and physical chronic conditions, and baseline MCS and PCS scores, adults taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently had significantly lower PCS scores (β, -1.68, P < .001), than those taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6. However, no significant difference in MCS scores was found between adults taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently and those taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6 (β, -0.27, P= .46). Conclusion Polypharmacy is significantly associated with lower PCS scores among adults with arthritis. Because polypharmacy can lead to drug-drug and drug-disease interactions, health care providers need to consider the risk and adopt a cautious approach in prescribing multiple drugs to manage chronic conditions and in choosing therapies to improve HRQoL among adults with arthritis.
AB - Introduction Our objective was to determine the relationship between polypharmacy (treatment with prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently) andhealth-relatedquality of life (HRQoL) among US adults with arthritis. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study that used2-year longitudinal data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to analyze a cohort of 6,132 adults aged over 21 years with arthritis. Measures of HRQoL were the summary scores from the mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) of the12-itemshort-formhealth survey. Unadjusted and adjusted regression models were used to evaluate the association between polypharmacy and HRQoL measures. We used SAS, version 9.4, (SAS Institute Inc) to conduct all analyses. Results In unadjusted analyses, adults with arthritis taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently had significantly lower MCS and PCS scores (β, -3.11, P < .001 and β, -10.26, P < .001, respectively) than adults taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6. After controlling for the demographic characteristics, number of mental and physical chronic conditions, and baseline MCS and PCS scores, adults taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently had significantly lower PCS scores (β, -1.68, P < .001), than those taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6. However, no significant difference in MCS scores was found between adults taking prescription drugs from 6 or more drug classes concurrently and those taking prescription drugs from fewer than 6 (β, -0.27, P= .46). Conclusion Polypharmacy is significantly associated with lower PCS scores among adults with arthritis. Because polypharmacy can lead to drug-drug and drug-disease interactions, health care providers need to consider the risk and adopt a cautious approach in prescribing multiple drugs to manage chronic conditions and in choosing therapies to improve HRQoL among adults with arthritis.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994157498&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5888/pcd13.160092
DO - 10.5888/pcd13.160092
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84994157498
VL - 13
JO - Preventing Chronic Disease
JF - Preventing Chronic Disease
SN - 1545-1151
IS - 9
M1 - 160092
ER -