Prescription and Non-prescription Medication Pill Burdens and Their Associations with Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

IF 3.4 3区医学 Q2 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Drugs & Aging Pub Date : 2025-03-19 DOI:10.1007/s40266-025-01199-0

Josephine M Vonderhaar, Michael E Ernst, Michelle A Fravel, Suzanne G Orchard, Alice J Owen, Robyn L Woods, Rory Wolfe, Nigel Stocks, Julia Gilmartin-Thomas

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Polypharmacy is associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study explores the association between prescription and non-prescription medication pill burdens, independent of underlying morbidity, on HRQoL in an older adult population.

Methods: Data from the final intervention year of the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) randomized trial in older adults from Australia and the USA, were analyzed cross-sectionally. Participants reported daily prescription and non-prescription pill counts at the final trial visit. HRQoL was assessed using the 12-Item Short-Form instrument (SF-12) and summarized into the physical component summary (PCS) score and mental component summary (MCS) score, where lower scores reflect poorer HRQoL. Multivariable regression, adjusted for covariates, was used to examine the relationships of categorized prescription and non-prescription pill counts with PCS and MCS separately.

Results: 15,165 participants responded to the question about prescription use and 15,727 for non-prescriptions (mean age = 80 years). Compared with non-users of prescription medications, lower mean PCS scores and larger reductions in scores were seen as prescription medication pill burden increased from 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, to ≥ 10 pills (- 1.7, - 4.5, - 7.6, and - 10.9, respectively, p < 0.001). A similar relationship, but of lesser magnitude, was observed with non-prescription medication pill burden, where the mean PCS was lower by - 0.2 for 1-3 pills (p = 0.494), - 1.8 for 4-6 (p < 0.001), and - 1.9 for ≥ 7 pills (p < 0.001), compared with non-users. No significant association was observed between prescription or non-prescription medication pill burdens and MCS.

Conclusions: Prescription and non-prescription medication pill burdens are independently associated with reduced physical, but not mental, HRQoL in older adults.

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老年人处方药和非处方药药丸负担及其与健康相关生活质量的关系：一项横断面研究

背景：多药治疗与健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）降低有关。本研究探讨了处方药和非处方药药丸负担之间的关系，独立于潜在的发病率，对老年人的HRQoL。方法：对来自澳大利亚和美国老年人的阿司匹林减少老年人事件（ASPREE）随机试验的最后干预年的数据进行横断面分析。在最后一次试验访问时，参与者报告了每日处方和非处方药片的数量。HRQoL采用12项短表量表（SF-12）进行评估，并将其汇总为物理成分总结（PCS）分数和心理成分总结（MCS）分数，分数越低反映HRQoL越差。采用多变量回归，调整协变量，分别检验分类处方和非处方药片数量与PCS和MCS的关系。结果：15165名参与者回答了处方使用的问题，15727名参与者回答了非处方使用的问题（平均年龄= 80岁）。与非处方药物使用者相比，当处方药物负担从1- 3,4 - 6,7 -9片增加到≥10片时，平均PCS分数较低，分数下降较大（分别为- 1.7,- 4.5,- 7.6和- 10.9,p < 0.001）。与非处方药相比，服用1-3片的患者的平均PCS降低了- 0.2 (p = 0.494)，服用4-6片的患者的平均PCS降低了- 1.8 (p < 0.001)，服用≥7片的患者的平均PCS降低了- 1.9 （p < 0.001）。未观察到处方或非处方药物药丸负担与MCS之间的显著关联。结论：处方药和非处方药药丸负担与老年人身体HRQoL下降独立相关，但与精神HRQoL无关。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Drugs & Aging 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

5.50

自引率

7.10%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Drugs & Aging delivers essential information on the most important aspects of drug therapy to professionals involved in the care of the elderly. The journal addresses in a timely way the major issues relating to drug therapy in older adults including: the management of specific diseases, particularly those associated with aging, age-related physiological changes impacting drug therapy, drug utilization and prescribing in the elderly, polypharmacy and drug interactions.