Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases
Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients is problematic due to their multiple comorbidities. This study investigated psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients discharged from a Malaysian university hospital and its associated factors. Discharges of patients aged 65 years or abov...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2021
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/1/19_ms0532_pdf_30239.pdf |
| Summary: | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients is problematic due to their
multiple comorbidities. This study investigated psychotropic polypharmacy among
elderly patients discharged from a Malaysian university hospital and its associated
factors. Discharges of patients aged 65 years or above from the psychiatric
wards from 2010 to 2019 were reviewed. Sociodemographic data, length of
stay (LOS), psychiatric and other diagnoses, and psychotropic prescription upon
discharge were extracted from electronic databases. Multiple logistic regression
was conducted with age, gender, race, marital status, main psychiatric diagnosis,
LOS, and the number of medical comorbidities as independent variables, and
polypharmacy (>2 psychotropics) as the dependent variable. There were 354
discharges in this period. The mean age was 72.4 years (SD=5.9 years); 63.0%
were female and 39.8% were Malays. Most were married (84.2%). The commonest
category of psychiatric diagnosis was mood disorders (54.5%). A total of 76.8% of
the discharges involved one or more medical comorbidities. The median number
of psychotropics was two, with 38.1% prescribed three or more psychotropics. In
the multiple regression model, female gender, Malay race, and being married were
significantly associated with psychotropic polypharmacy. Sociocultural factors may
contribute to psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients. Such factors
require further investigations to elucidate their roles. |
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