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 |
| _version_ | 1848814530696577024 |
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| author | Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng Gan, LLY |
| author_facet | Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng Gan, LLY |
| author_sort | Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:35:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:18281 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:35:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:182812022-03-25T01:54:47Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/ Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng Gan, LLY 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. Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/1/19_ms0532_pdf_30239.pdf Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng and Gan, LLY (2021) Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases. Medicine & Health, 16 (2). pp. 249-262. ISSN 2289-5728 https://medicineandhealthukm.com/toc/16/2 |
| spellingShingle | Woon, Luke Sy-Cherng Gan, LLY Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title_full | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title_fullStr | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title_short | Psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a Malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| title_sort | psychotropic polypharmacy among elderly patients with mental illness in a malaysian university hospital : a 10-year review of hospital databases |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18281/1/19_ms0532_pdf_30239.pdf |