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Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study sample (n = 1791) by polypharmacy (no /yes) and the risk of medication-related problems (low risk /high risk) measured at follow-up

From: Factors associated with polypharmacy and the high risk of medication-related problems among older community-dwelling adults in European countries: a longitudinal study

 

Total b (n = 1791)

Polypharmacy at follow-up f

The risk of medication-related problems at follow-up f

No n = 981 (54.8%)

Yes n = 810 (45.2%)

p-value a

Low risk n = 1043 (58.2%)

High risk n = 748 (41.8%)

p-value a

Sociodemographic factors

Age (Year)

79.6 ± 5.6

79.0 ± 5.7

80.2 ± 5.3

 < 0.001 d

79.7 ± 5.9

79.4 ± 5.0

0.20 d

Sex N(%)

  Female

1089 (60.8)

616 (62.8)

473 (58.4)

0.06 e

667 (64.0)

422 (56.4)

0.001 e

 Male

702 (39.2)

365 (37.2)

337 (41.6)

376 (36.0)

326 (43.6)

Educational level N(%)

 Primary or less

446 (24.9)

261 (27.1)

185 (23.2)

0.06 e

244 (23.8)

202 (27.4)

0.23 e

 Secondary

1142 (63.8)

601 (62.3)

541 (67.8)

677 (66.0)

465 (63.1)

 Tertiary or higher

174 (9.7)

102 (10.6)

72 (9.0)

104 (10.1)

70 (9.5)

Country N(%)

 The Netherlands

272 (15.2)

135 (13.8)

137 (16.9)

 < 0.001 e

157 (15.1)

115 (15.4)

0.001 e

 Greece

259 (14.5)

171 (17.4)

88 (10.9)

161 (15.4)

98 (13.1)

 Croatia

427 (23.8)

256 (26.1)

171 (21.1)

278 (26.7)

149 (19.9)

 Spain

395 (22.1)

252 (25.7)

143 (17.7)

224 (21.5)

171 (22.9)

 The United Kingdom

438 (24.5)

167 (17.0)

271 (33.5)

223 (21.4)

215 (28.7)

Migration Background N(%)

 No

1640 (91.6)

907 (92.8)

730 (90.1)

0.045 e

968 (92.8)

672 (89.8)

0.03 e

 Yes

151 (8.4)

71 (7.2)

80 (9.9)

75 (7.2)

76 (10.2)

Household composition N(%)

 Living with others

1106 (61.8)

635 (65.1)

471 (58.4)

0.004 e

654 (63.2)

452 (60.5)

0.25 e

 Living alone

676 (37.7)

340 (34.9)

336 (41.6)

381 (36.8)

295 (39.5)

Factors regarding life style and nutrition

Smoking N(%)

  No

1652 (92.2)

899 (92.0)

753 (93.2)

0.35 e

955 (91.7)

697 (93.7)

0.12 e

  Yes

133 (7.4)

78 (8.0)

55 (6.8)

86 (8.3)

47 (6.3)

Alcohol use N(%)

 No

1244 (69.5)

660 (71.7)

584 (75.5)

0.08 e

707 (71.8)

537 (75.8)

0.06 e

 Yes

449 (25.1)

260 (28.3)

189 (24.5)

278 (28.2)

171 (24.2)

Exercise N(%)

 More than once a week

1298 (72.5)

758 (77.8)

540 (67.2)

 < 0.001 e

774 (74.8)

524 (70.5)

0.046 e

 Once a week or less

480 (26.8)

216 (22.2)

264 (32.8)

261 (25.2)

219 (29.5)

Malnutrition N(%)

 No

1516 (84.6)

833 (85.1)

683 (85.1)

0.99 e

888 (85.3)

628 (84.8)

0.75 e

 Yes

266 (14.9)

146 (14.9)

120 (14.9)

153 (14.7)

113 (15.2)

BMI c N(%)

 Underweight and normal

607 (33.9)

360 (38.5)

247 (33.3)

0.001 e

386 (39.1)

221 (32.1)

 < 0.001 e

 Overweight

740 (41.3)

421 (45.1)

319 (43.0)

440(44.6)

300 (43.5)

 Obese

328 (18.3)

153 (16.4)

175 (23.6)

160 (16.2)

168 (24.4)

Factors regarding health and health care use

Health-related quality of life (SF-12) (score)

 Physical Component Summary

42.0 ± 11.9

44.9 ± 11.0

38.4 ± 12.0

 < 0.001 d

43.6 ± 11.7

39.7 ± 11.9

 < 0.001 d

 Mental Component Summary

50.3 ± 10.7

50.8 ± 10.4

49.7 ± 11.0

0.03 d

50.4 ± 10.7

50.1 ± 10.7

0.52 d

Multi-morbidity N(%)

 No

158 (8.8)

137 (14.0)

21 (2.6)

 < 0.001 e

124 (11.9)

34 (4.5)

 < 0.001 e

 Yes

1629 (91.0)

840 (86.0)

789 (97.4)

915 (88.1)

714 (95.5)

Falling times (during the last year) N(%)

 Zero or one time

1522 (85.0)

859 (88.6)

663 (82.4)

 < 0.001 e

899 (87.3)

623 (83.6)

0.03 e

 Two or more times

253 (14.1)

111 (11.4)

142 (17.6)

131 (12.7)

122 (16.4)

Frailty N(%)

 No

804 (44.9)

516 (52.9)

288 (35.6)

 < 0.001 e

525 (50.6)

279 (37.4)

 < 0.001 e

 Yes

979 (54.7)

459 (47.1)

520 (64.4)

513 (49.4)

466 (62.6)

Outpatient service use (during the last year) N(%)

 No

153 (8.5)

113 (11.7)

40 (5.0)

 < 0.001 e

120 (11.7)

33 (4.4)

 < 0.001 e

 Yes

1620 (90.5)

856 (88.3)

764 (95.0)

909 (88.3)

711 (95.6)

Hospitalization (during the last year) N(%)

 No

1448 (80.8)

832 (85.6)

616 (76.9)

 < 0.001 e

872 (84.6)

576 (77.6)

 < 0.001 e

 Yes

325 (18.1)

140 (14.4)

185 (23.1)

159 (15.4)

1661661661661661661662.4)

  1. aPresented as mean ± SD for continuous variables or N (%) for categorical variables; Significant P-values (< 0.05) are in bold
  2. bMissing items: Educational level = 29 (1.6%); Household composition = 9 (0.5%); Smoking = 6 (0.3%); Alcohol use = 98 (5.5%); Exercise = 13 (0.7%); Malnutrition = 9 (0.5%); BMI = 116(6.1%); Multi-morbidity = 4 (0.2%);Frailty = 8 (0.4%); Falling times during the last year = 16 (0.9%); Outpatient service = 18 (1.0%); Hospitalization = 18 (1.0%)
  3. cAbbreviations: BMI, body mass index
  4. dp-values based on independent T test for continuous variables
  5. ep-values based on chi-square test for categorical variables
  6. fThe sample size for polypharmacy and the risk of medication-related problems are both n = 1791