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Table 4 Relative Risk Ratios for non-cardiological 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)

Monotherapy (1 Med)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

0.013

(reference)

  

0.018

(reference)

  

0.034

  Female

1.3

1.1

1.7

 

1.3

1.1

1.7

 

1.3

1.0

1.6

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

0.123

(reference)

  

0.325

(reference)

  

0.433

 Vocational or O-Level Level

1.0

0.7

1.3

 

1.0

0.7

1.4

 

1.0

0.7

1.4

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.8

0.6

1.0

 

0.8

0.6

1.1

 

0.9

0.6

1.2

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

0.056

(reference)

  

0.201

(reference)

  

0.302

 Non-Manual

0.8

0.6

1.0

 

0.8

0.6

1.1

 

0.9

0.6

1.1

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference )

  

< 0.001

 One

1.6

1.2

2.1

     

1.5

1.1

2.0

 

 Two

2.4

0.7

3.3

     

2.2

1.5

3.1

 

Three or More

2.3

1.6

3.4

     

2.0

1.3

2.9

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

2.3

1.7

3.1

     

2.0

1.5

2.7

 

Polypharmacy (2–4 Meds)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

  Female

1.7

1.4

2.1

 

1.7

1.3

2.1

 

1.6

1.3

2.0

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

0.001

(reference)

  

0.005

 Vocational or O-Level Level

0.8

0.6

1.1

 

0.9

0.6

1.1

 

0.9

0.6

1.2

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.6

0.5

0.8

 

0.6

0.5

0.8

 

0.6

0.5

0.8

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

0.038

(reference)

  

0.593

(reference)

  

0.885

 Non-Manual

0.8

0.6

1.0

 

0.9

0.7

1.2

 

1.0

0.8

1.4

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 One

2.2

1.6

3.0

     

2.0

1.5

2.7

 

 Two

3.9

2.8

5.6

     

3.4

2.4

4.8

 

 Three or More

6.5

4.5

9.3

     

4.8

3.3

7.0

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

3.9

3.0

5.2

     

3.0

2.3

4.0

 

Extreme Polypharmacy (5+ Meds)

 Gender

  Male

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

  Female

2.2

1.6

3.1

 

2.2

1.5

3.1

 

2.2

1.5

3.3

 

Educational Qualifications by Age 26

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Vocational or O-Level Level

0.6

0.4

0.9

 

0.7

0.4

1.0

 

0.7

0.4

1.1

 

 A-Level or Higher

0.3

0.2

0.4

 

0.3

0.2

0.5

 

0.3

0.2

0.5

 

Social Class (age 53)

 Manual

(reference)

  

< 0.001

(reference)

  

0.102

(reference)

  

0.791

 Non-Manual

0.5

0.3

0.7

 

0.7

0.5

1.1

 

0.9

0.6

1.5

 

Number of Diagnosed Diseases

 None

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 One

3.0

1.5

6.0

     

2.4

1.1

4.9

 

 Two

6.6

3.2

13.7

     

4.6

2.2

9.6

 

 Three or More

29.5

15.0

57.9

     

15.1

7.5

30.4

 

Disease Severity

 No Limiting Conditions

(reference)

  

< 0.001

    

(reference)

  

< 0.001

 Limiting Condition

14.2

9.6

21.0

     

9.0

6.0

13.6

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