1. Baseline Prevalence of Polypharmacy in Older Hypertensive Study Subjects with Elevated Dementia Risk: Findings from the Risk Reduction for Alzheimer’s Disease Study (rrAD)
- Author
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Jeffrey N. Keller, William P. Gahan, David C. Zhu, Ellen F. Binder, Eric D. Vidoni, Rong Zhang, Victoria Ourso, Linda S. Hynan, Ashwini S. Kamat, Kaylee Woodard, Diana R. Kerwin, Munro Cullum, Wanpen Vongpatanasin, and Jeffrey M. Burns
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pharmacist ,Disease ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Medication Reconciliation ,0302 clinical medicine ,Alzheimer Disease ,Risk Factors ,Diabetes mellitus ,Internal medicine ,Hyperlipidemia ,Diabetes Mellitus ,Prevalence ,medicine ,Humans ,Dementia ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Risk factor ,Antihypertensive Agents ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Polypharmacy ,business.industry ,General Neuroscience ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Hypertension ,Female ,Over-the-counter ,Geriatrics and Gerontology ,business ,Risk Reduction Behavior ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Background: Little is known about the prevalence of polypharmacy, the taking of five or more medications a day, in older adults with specific dementia risk factors. Objective: To examine the prevalence of polypharmacy in participants at baseline in a vascular risk reduction focused Alzheimer’s disease (rrAD) trial targeting older patients with hypertension and elevated dementia risk. Methods: We conducted a detailed review of medications in a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults with hypertension and elevated dementia risk. Medications were identified in a structured interview process with an onsite pharmacist or qualified designee. Polypharmacy was defined as use of five or more medications on a regular basis. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the sample as well as direct comparisons of subgroups of individuals with hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Results: The 514 rrAD participants, mean age 68.8 (standard deviation [sd] 6), reported taking different combinations of 472 unique medications at their baseline visit. The median number of medications taken by participants was eight [Range 0–21], with 79.2% exhibiting polypharmacy (n = 407). Sites differed in their prevalence of polypharmacy, χ2(3) = 56.0, p
- Published
- 2020
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