Assessment of Prevalence and Associated Factors of Polypharmacy among Elderly Patients Admitted to Federal Police Referral Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2021-08
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Polypharmacy is one of the major concerns in the healthcare sector as it has a
strong association with increased treatment costs, morbidity and adverse drug reactions (ADR).
Elderly patients are prone to these risks for they are exposed to many coexisted chronic and acute
illnesses that lead to polypharmacy. In Ethiopia, there is a dearth of studies exploring the
prevalence and associated factors of polypharmacy in elderly patients.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of polypharmacy and its associated factors among
elderly patients admitted to Federal Police Referral Hospital (FPRH) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: A healthcare facility-based, retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out in
FPHR, one of the two federal-level military hospitals in Addis Ababa. Medical charts of elderly
patients who were admitted to the hospital in the period 01 January 2019 to 01 January 2020
were reviewed for polypharmacy. Using an adapted and structured data extraction tool, data were
abstracted on patient characteristics, diseases encountered, co-morbidities, and the type and
categories of the drugs administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25.
Logistic regression was used to assess the association and an odds ratio (OR) with a
corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was used.
Results: A total of 376 medical charts were reviewed, of which five or more drugs were
prescribed in 180 (47.9%) charts, with a mean of 4.57. This indicated the occurrence of
polypharmacy in FPRH. In the logistic regression, cardiovascular disease (AOR = 7.456, 95% CI
[2.109 - 26.360], p = 0.002) and endocrine disorders (AOR = 7.331, 95% CI [1.988 - 27.043], p
= 0.003) showed a significant association with polypharmacy.
Conclusions: Polypharmacy is highly prevalent among elderly patientss admitted to FPRH.
Cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders, and comorbidity with one to three diseases were the
major predictors of polypharmacy. We recommend that medication practices for elderly patients
need to be improved through training of clinical practitioners, regular review of patients’
medication charts, particularly patients with cardiovascular disease and endocrine disorders, and
further ingagement of clinical pharmacists in elderly care and treatment.
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Keywords
Elderly patients, polypharmacy, police refferal hospital, cardiovascular disease (CVD), endocrine disorder, Ethiopia.