Polypharmacy in spinal cord injury: Matched cohort analysis comparing drug classes, medical complications, and healthcare utilization metrics with 24-month follow-up.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Polypharmacy in spinal cord injury (SCI) is common and predisposes patients to increased risk of adverse events. Evaluation of long-term health consequences and economic burden of polypharmacy in patients with SCI is explored.

Design

Retrospective cohort.

Methods

The IBM Marketscan Research Databases claims-based dataset was queried to search for adult patients with SCI with a 2-year follow-up.

Participants

Two matched cohorts were analyzed: those with and without polypharmacy, analyzing index hospitalization, readmissions, payments, and health outcomes.

Results

A total of 11 569 individuals with SCI were included, of which 7235 (63%) were in the polypharmacy group who took a median of 11 separate drugs over two years. Opioid analgesics were th

SUBMITTER: Dietz N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329852 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature