Combined Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy Patterns in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Health Care.

ABSTRACT: (1) Background: The acquisition of multiple chronic diseases, known as multimorbidity, is common in the elderly population, and it is often treated with the simultaneous consumption of several prescription drugs, known as polypharmacy. These two concepts are inherently related and cause an undue burden on the individual. The aim of this study was to identify combined multimorbidity and polypharmacy patterns for the elderly population in Catalonia. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study using electronic health records from 2012 was conducted. A mapping process was performed linking chronic disease categories to the drug categories indicated for their treatment. A soft clustering technique was then carried out on the final mapped categories. (3) Results: 916,619 individuals were included, with

SUBMITTER: Stafford G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8430667 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature