TY - JOUR
T1 - Common combinations of medications used among oldest-old women
T2 - a population-based study over 15 years
AU - Thiruchelvam, Kaeshaelya
AU - Byles, Julie
AU - Hasan, Syed Shahzad
AU - Egan, Nicholas
AU - Cavenagh, Dominic
AU - Kairuz, Therese
N1 - Funding Information:
The research on which this study is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women?s Health by the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. The authors are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding and to the women who provided the survey data. The authors acknowledge the Departments of Health and Veterans? Affairs, and Medicare Australia, for providing PBS data, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) as the integrating authority. They also thank Peta Forder (Priority Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle) and Natasha Weaver (School of Medicine and Public Health) for their statistical input and assistance.
Funding Information:
The research on which this study is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health by the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. The authors are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding and to the women who provided the survey data. The authors acknowledge the Departments of Health and Veterans’ Affairs, and Medicare Australia, for providing PBS data, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) as the integrating authority. They also thank Peta Forder (Priority Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle) and Natasha Weaver (School of Medicine and Public Health) for their statistical input and assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - Background: Older people use many medications, but combinations of medications used among the oldest old (≥80 years)are not commonly reported. Aims: This study aimed to determine common combinations of medications used among women aged 77–96 years and to describe characteristics associated with these combinations. Methods: A cohort study of older women enroled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health over a 15-year period was used to determine combinations of medications using latent class analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine characteristics associated with these combinations. Results: The highest medication users during the study were for the cardiovascular (2003: 80.28%; 2017: 85.63%) and nervous (2003: 66.03%; 2017: 75.41%) systems. A 3-class latent model described medication use combinations: class 1:‘Cardiovascular & neurology anatomical group’ (27.25%) included participants using medications of the cardiovascular and nervous systems in their later years; class 2: ‘Multiple anatomical group’ (16.49%) and class 3: ‘Antiinfectives & multiple anatomical group’ (56.27%). When compared to the reference class (class 1), the risk of participants being in class 3 was slightly higher than being in class 2 if they had >4 general practitioner visits (RRR 2.37; 95% CI 2.08, 2.71), Department of Veterans Affairs’ coverage (RRR 1.59; 95% CI 1.36, 1.86), ≥4 chronic diseases (RRR 3.16; 95% CI 2.56, 3.90) and were frail (RRR 1.47; 95% CI 1.27, 1.69). Conclusion: Identification of combinations of medication use may provide opportunities to develop multimorbidity guidelines and target medication reviews, and may help reduce medication load for older individuals.
AB - Background: Older people use many medications, but combinations of medications used among the oldest old (≥80 years)are not commonly reported. Aims: This study aimed to determine common combinations of medications used among women aged 77–96 years and to describe characteristics associated with these combinations. Methods: A cohort study of older women enroled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health over a 15-year period was used to determine combinations of medications using latent class analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine characteristics associated with these combinations. Results: The highest medication users during the study were for the cardiovascular (2003: 80.28%; 2017: 85.63%) and nervous (2003: 66.03%; 2017: 75.41%) systems. A 3-class latent model described medication use combinations: class 1:‘Cardiovascular & neurology anatomical group’ (27.25%) included participants using medications of the cardiovascular and nervous systems in their later years; class 2: ‘Multiple anatomical group’ (16.49%) and class 3: ‘Antiinfectives & multiple anatomical group’ (56.27%). When compared to the reference class (class 1), the risk of participants being in class 3 was slightly higher than being in class 2 if they had >4 general practitioner visits (RRR 2.37; 95% CI 2.08, 2.71), Department of Veterans Affairs’ coverage (RRR 1.59; 95% CI 1.36, 1.86), ≥4 chronic diseases (RRR 3.16; 95% CI 2.56, 3.90) and were frail (RRR 1.47; 95% CI 1.27, 1.69). Conclusion: Identification of combinations of medication use may provide opportunities to develop multimorbidity guidelines and target medication reviews, and may help reduce medication load for older individuals.
KW - Ageing
KW - Older people
KW - Medication combinations
KW - Medication pattern
KW - Medication use
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090762129&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40520-020-01693-y
DO - 10.1007/s40520-020-01693-y
M3 - Article
VL - 33
SP - 1919
EP - 1928
JO - Aging clinical and experimental research
JF - Aging clinical and experimental research
SN - 1594-0667
IS - 7
ER -
