Skip to main content

Table 2 Relative Risk Ratios for total polypharmacy by gender, socioeconomic factors and disease burden

From: The prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy at age 69: a British birth cohort study

 

Gender Adjusted Relative Risk Ratios

Model One

Model Two

 

RRR

95% LCI

95% UCI

p

RRR

95% LCI

95% UCI

p

RRR

95% LCI

95% UCI

p

No Medication

(reference)

(reference)

(reference)

No Polypharmacy (1–4 Meds)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

0.870

(reference)

  

0.496

(reference)

  

0.125

  Female

1.0

0.8

1.2

 

0.9

0.7

1.2

 

0.8

0.6

1.1

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

0.011

(reference)

  

0.010

(reference)

  

0.017

 Vocational or O-Level Level

1.0

0.7

1.3

 

1.0

0.7

1.3

 

1.0

0.7

1.4

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.7

0.5

0.9

 

0.7

0.5

0.9

 

0.7

0.5

0.9

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

0.624

(reference)

  

0.592

(reference)

  

0.498

 Non-Manual

0.9

0.7

1.2

 

1.1

0.8

1.5

 

1.1

0.8

1.5

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 One

3.2

2.5

4.2

     

3.1

2.4

4.1

 

 Two

6.9

4.6

10.2

     

6.5

4.3

9.6

 

 Three or More

9.9

5.7

17.4

     

8.9

5.1

15.7

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

2.7

1.9

3.9

     

2.1

1.4

3.0

 

Polypharmacy (5–8 Meds)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

0.937

(reference)

  

0.595

(reference)

  

0.044

  Female

1.0

0.7

1.3

 

0.9

0.7

1.2

 

0.7

0.5

1.0

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Vocational or O-Level Level

0.8

0.5

1.0

 

0.7

0.5

1.1

 

0.7

0.5

1.2

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.3

0.2

0.5

 

0.4

0.2

0.5

 

0.3

0.2

0.5

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

0.001

(reference)

  

0.290

(reference)

  

0.853

 Non-Manual

0.6

0.4

0.8

 

0.8

0.6

1.2

 

1.0

0.6

1.4

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 One

6.6

4.0

10.8

     

5.8

3.5

9.5

 

 Two

22.0

12.4

39.0

     

18.1

10.1

32.3

 

 Three or More

93.0

47.4

82.3

     

67.0

33.8

132.9

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

7.7

5.2

11.4

     

4.6

3.0

7.0

 

Extreme Polypharmacy (9 + Meds)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

0.496

(reference)

  

0.499

(reference)

  

0.072

  Female

0.9

0.5

1.3

 

0.9

0.5

1.4

 

0.6

0.4

1.0

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Vocational or O-Level Level

0.5

0.3

0.8

 

0.5

0.3

1.0

 

0.6

0.3

1.1

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.2

0.1

0.4

 

0.3

0.1

0.5

 

0.2

0.1

0.5

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

0.046

(reference)

  

0.390

 Non-Manual

0.4

0.2

0.6

 

0.6

0.4

1.0

 

0.8

0.4

1.4

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 One

2.1

0.6

7.0

     

1.6

0.5

5.6

 

 Two

19.0

6.5

55.7

     

13.6

4.5

40.5

 

 Three or More

201.9

70.7

576.7

     

109.9

37.6

321.1

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

21.8

12.6

38.0

     

10.6

5.9

19.3

 
  1. Model One: Gender, Education & Social Class. Model Two: Gender, Education, Social Class, Disease Burden & Severity Risk ratios rounded to a single decimal place
Back to article page

BMC Geriatrics

ISSN: 1471-2318

Contact us