Patterns and characteristics of polypharmacy among elderly residents in Danish nursing homes

Aim: To identify patterns and characteristics of polypharmacy among elderly residents in Danish nursing homes in the Northern region of Denmark. Materials & methods: Twenty-five nursing homes were contacted, where each supplied 20 randomly selected anonymized residents' information. Residents were 65 years or older, concurrently taking five or more medications. Drug-drug interactions and potential adverse effects were investigated. Results: One hundred residents (68% females; 32% males) were included. The most prevalent co-morbid condition was cardiovascular disease, and the most prevalent medications were for gastrointestinal- and metabolism-related conditions. Age influenced the number of drugs (p = 0.013) and drug-drug interactions per resident (p = 0.039), with a positive correlation. Conclusion: Elderly residents of the studied nursing homes were potentially affected by an inappropriate polypharmacy. Lay abstract Multimorbidity is common among elderly and a leading factor for polypharmacy. We conducted this study on 100 Danish elderly residents (>65 years, on >= 5 medications) in 25 nursing homes, anonymously and randomly chosen in Northern region of Denmark, to find characteristics of potential inappropriate polypharmacy. We found that age influenced the number of drugs (p = 0.013) and number of drug-drug interactions per resident (p = 0.039), but no sex-related difference was evident. Positive correlations were present between the number of drugs and drug-drug interactions. Elderly residents of the studied nursing homes were potentially affected by an inappropriate polypharmacy.