High-risk prescribing and incidence of frailty among older community-dwelling men

Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012 Mar;91(3):521-8. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2011.258. Epub 2012 Feb 1.

Abstract

Evidence about the association between treatment with high-risk medicines and frailty in older individuals is limited. We investigated the relationship between high-risk prescribing and frailty at baseline, as well as 2-year incident frailty, in 1,662 men ≥70 years of age. High-risk prescribing was defined as polypharmacy (≥5 medicines), hyperpolypharmacy (≥10 medicines), and by the Drug Burden Index (DBI), a dose-normalized measure of anticholinergic and sedative medicines. At baseline, frail participants had adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 2.55 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.69-3.84) for polypharmacy, 5.80 (95% CI: 2.90-11.61) for hyperpolypharmacy, and 2.33 (95% CI: 1.58-3.45) for DBI exposure, as compared with robust participants. Of the 1,242 men who were robust at baseline, 6.2% developed frailty over two years. Adjusted ORs of incident frailty were 2.45 (95% CI: 1.42-4.23) for polypharmacy, 2.50 (95% CI: 0.76-8.26) for hyperpolypharmacy, and 2.14 (95% CI: 1.25-3.64) for DBI exposure. High-risk prescribing may contribute to frailty in community-dwelling older men.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Drug Utilization
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Frail Elderly / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Odds Ratio
  • Polypharmacy*
  • Prescription Drugs*
  • Residence Characteristics
  • Risk Factors

Substances

  • Prescription Drugs