Polypharmacy and healthcare expenditures among older adults in the United States: a propensity score-matched study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Polypharmacy is associated with increased risk of adverse events and may increase healthcare expenditures. However, there is a lack of study using nationally representative data to assess additional healthcare costs associated with polypharmacy. This study aimed to quantify the associations between polypharmacy and healthcare expenditures and affordability of healthcare among older adults.

Methods

We used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from 2018 to 2021, which provides nationally presentative data in the US. Polypharmacy was defined as using ≥ 5 medications in the survey year. We included 23,300 adult participants aged 65 years or older (13,339 with and 9,961 without polypharmacy). Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for

SUBMITTER: Pan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12821876 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature