Epidemiology of Polypharmacy in the General Population: 27-Year Prospective Cohort Study

At least a third of the individuals with a noncommunicable disease (NCD), such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, or heart disease, are diagnosed with another NCD in their lifetime.1 This high burden of co-occurring chronic diseases ( “multimorbidity”) necessitates frequent and simultaneous use of various drugs according to contemporary guidelines. Several studies reported the frequency and composition of polypharmacy (concurrent use of ≥5 drugs) in the general population,2,3 but most were unable to capture the incidence an d chronicity of polypharmacy because of their cross-sectional design.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research