Multi-dose drug dispensing and inappropriate drug use: A nationwide register-based study of over 700 000 elderly

Figures & data

Table I.  Characteristics of the 450 482 elderly women and 280 623 elderly men, Sweden, 2005.

	Women		Men
	Multi-dose (n = 86 565)	Prescription (n = 363 917)	Multi-dose (n = 35 848)	Prescription (n = 244 775)
Mean age (years±SD)	86.3±5.7	81.6±5.0	84.5±5.5	80.9±4.6
Mean number of dispensed drugs (no.±SD)	9.4±4.4	4.7±3.3	9.3±4.3	4.5±3.2

Table II.  Potentially inappropriate drug use among 450 482 elderly women and 280 623 elderly men, Sweden, 2005.

	Any inappropriate drug use (%)	Anticholinergic drugs (%)	Long-acting benzodiazepines (%)	≥3 psychotropic drugs (%)	Potentially serious drug–drug interactions (%)
Multi-dose (n = 122413)	40.3	15.3	8.8	22.1	8.8
Women	41.0	15.1	9.2	23.1	8.9
Men	38.5	15.6	7.8	19.8	8.8
75–79 years	45.9	19.2	9.8	26.7	10.1
80–84 years	41.4	15.6	8.3	23.7	9.4
85–89 years	38.9	14.2	8.0	21.2	8.8
≥90 years	37.4	13.8	9.5	18.9	7.6
Prescription (n = 608 692)	13.6	4.9	4.7	2.4	3.7
Women	15.0	5.5	5.5	2.9	3.6
Men	11.5	4.1	3.4	1.7	3.8
75–79 years	12.6	5.0	3.7	2.3	3.7
80–84 years	13.7	4.9	4.6	2.4	3.7
85–89 years	15.0	4.9	5.9	2.7	3.6
≥90 years	15.7	4.4	7.8	2.6	3.0

Table III.  Adjusted¹ odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for potentially inappropriate drug use among 450 482 elderly women and 280 623 elderly men, Sweden, 2005.

	Any inappropriate drug use	Anticholinergic drugs	Long-acting benzodiazepines	Three or more psychotropic drugs	Potentially serious drug–drug interactions
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Women
Prescription	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Multi-dose	1.43 (1.40–1.46)	1.51 (1.47–1.56)	0.69 (0.66–0.71)	3.96 (3.85–4.09)	0.80 (0.77–0.83)
Men
Prescription	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Multi-dose	1.72 (1.67–1.78)	2.05 (1.97–2.14)	0.94 (0.89–1.00)	4.93 (4.70–5.17)	0.70 (0.66–0.74)

Note: ¹Adjusted for age and number of dispensed drugs.

Table IV.  Adjusted¹ odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for potentially inappropriate drug use among 155 657 women and 116 419 men aged 75–79 years, Sweden, 2005.

	Any inappropriate drug use	Anticholinergic drugs	Long-acting benzodiazepines	Three or more psychotropic drugs	Potentially serious drug–drug interactions
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Women
Prescription	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Multi-dose	1.88 (1.80–1.97)	1.64 (1.55–1.75)	0.98 (0.91–1.06)	4.63 (4.36–4.92)	0.70 (0.64–0.76)
Men
Prescription	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Multi-dose	2.05 (1.94–2.18)	2.28 (2.11–2.46)	1.36 (1.23–1.51)	5.74 (5.29–6.24)	0.56 (0.51–0.62)

Note: ¹Adjusted for age and number of dispensed drugs.