CHARACTERISTICS AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH POLYPHARMACY IN OLDER ADULTS DIAGNOSED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS

Salazar-Malaver D.A.; Requejo-Baltazar J.R.; Arévalo-León C.J.; Solis-Sánchez G.; Romani-Romani F.R.; Quispe-Chau A. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2025) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v25i4.7904

Resumen

Introduction: Polypharmacy, intensified by osteoporosis and other comorbidities in older adults, poses a risk due to drug interactions and adverse effects. Objective: To estimate the frequency of polypharmacy and its associated factors in older adults with osteoporosis treated at a primary care facility in Lima. Methods: A retrospective observational study based on the review of 521 electronic medical records of patients aged ≥60 years with osteoporosis treated at a primary care facility in 2023. Polypharmacy was analyzed under two scenarios: including osteoporosis-specific medications (PCMpO, by its Spanish acronym) and excluding osteoporosis-specific medications (PsCMpO, by its Spanish acronym). Results: Most patients were women (94.8%) and aged 70–79 years (43.2%). The prevalence of polypharmacy was 41.1% in the PCMpO scenario and 28.0% in the PsCMpO scenario. Factors associated with polypharmacy included older age (70–79 years: PR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.03–1.71 in PCMpO and PR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.10–2.26 in PsCMpO; ≥80 years: PR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.17–2.05 in PCMpO and PR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.40–3.01 in PsCMpO), presence of multiple comorbidities (2 comorbidities: PR: 3.96; 95% CI: 1.84–8.52 in PCMpO and PR: 2.90; 95% CI: 1.22–6.90 in PsCMpO; ≥3 comorbidities: PR: 4.79; 95% CI: 2.22–10.34 in PCMpO and PR: 3.52; 95% CI: 1.48–8.39 in PsCMpO), and a higher number of medical specialties involved (per additional specialty: PR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.08–1.21 in PCMpO and PR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.11–1.28 in PsCMpO). The most frequently prescribed medications in both polypharmacy definitions were analgesics, vitamins, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and antihypertensive agents. Conclusions: Age, comorbidities, and care provided by multiple medical specialties were associated with polypharmacy, highlighting the need for comprehensive care and therapeutic adjustments to improve medication safety and quality of life in older adults. © Article published by the Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana of Universidad Ricardo Palma. It is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is duly cited.

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura