Authors (including presenting author) :
Hui ASW (1), Chen CX (1), Chiang L(1), Ko SH (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Polypharmacy
Keyword 3: :
Primary care
Keyword 4: :
Risk Factors
Introduction :
Polypharmacy is a common problem faced worldwide. Some studies showed the prevalence of polypharmacy was on a rising trend for elderly patients in Hong Kong and was higher when compared to other countries. Various risk factors are found to be associated with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy can lead to multiple undesirable outcomes to patients and to the healthcare system. Previous local studies mostly focused on the prevalence of polypharmacy in elderly patients. Information related to patients of other age groups was limited. Furthermore, there is also a lack of updated information regarding the prevalence of excessive polypharmacy.
Objectives :
1. To examine the prevalence of polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy among adult patients in public primary care in Hong Kong
2. To identify the associated risk factors of polypharmacy
Methodology :
A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the prevalence of polypharmacy of individuals who were 18 years old or above and had attended any of the 13 general outpatient clinics located in the Kowloon Central Cluster of the Hospital Authority (HA) for medical consultation from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022 inclusive. Clinical information including demographic data, type and number of comorbidities of selected patients was collected from the Clinical Management System of HA. Polypharmacy was defined as the concomitant use of ≥5 drugs by a patient for 30 days or more. Excessive polypharmacy was defined as the concomitant use of ≥10 drugs by a patient for 30 days or more. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed by including factors found to be significant at the level of p < 0.1 in the univariate analysis.
Result & Outcome :
45 out of the 331 sampled patients had polypharmacy, giving a prevalence of 13.6%. 2 patients had excessive polypharmacy, giving a prevalence of 0.6%. Four factors were noted to be associated with increased risk of polypharmacy: number of chronic health problems (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.01-2.52), cerebrovascular disease (OR 8.59, 95% CI 1.61-45.99), diabetes mellitus (OR 3.20, 95% CI 1.11-9.19) and ischemic heart disease (OR 11.37, 95% CI 1.44-89.90).
