(319) Current Status of Spontaneous Adverse Event Reports Related to Polypharmacy in Korean Elderly Patients

Saturday, August 27, 2022

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CEST

Location: Hall C

Publication Number: 993

Presenting Author(s)

HeeHyun Won
– Ewha Womans University, Seodaemun-Gu, South Korea

Co-Author(s)

Heejin Kim
– Ewha Womans University, Seodaemungu, South Korea
Na-Young Jeong
– Ewha Womans University, Seodaemungu, Gyeonggido, South Korea
Byung-Joo Park
– Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Republic of Korea
Nam-Kyong Choi
– Department of Health Convergence, College of Science & Industry Convergence, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea

Background: With the aging population and many of whom have comorbidities, the problem of polypharmacy in the elderly is increasing. Polypharmacy is associated with an increased risk of adverse events (AEs) and medical costs. It is necessary to examine the current status of polypharmacy in patients who reported AEs to generate primary data about the association between polypharmacy and AEs.

Objectives: To present the current status of polypharmacy in AEs reports of the elderly over 65 years using the Korea adverse events reporting system (KAERS) database.

Methods: We used the KAERS database which is a nationwide database of AEs reports from 2016 to 2020. Polypharmacy was defined as administered 5-9 drugs and administered more than 10 drugs was defined as excessive polypharmacy. Only cases reported by the regional pharmacovigilance centers were included, and the timing and duration of drug administration were not considered. Baseline characteristics, proportion of reports on a certain number of drugs by age group and reported medications coded by anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) first level was analyzed according to polypharmacy classification.

Results: Among the total of 258,078 elderly patients reports from 2016 to 2020, 243,640 reports (94.41%) administered 1-4 drugs, 12,825 reports (4.97%) administered 5-9 drugs, and 1,613 reports (0.63%) administered over 10 drugs per one report. The mean number of drugs per elderly report in the KAERS database during the study period was 1.63. Alimentary tract and metabolism medications group [polypharmacy: 19,617 (25.81%), excessive polypharmacy: 5,468 (26.26%)] were the most frequently reported in patients with polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy. In polypharmacy patients reports, followed by respiratory system (12,529, 16.48%), nervous system (12,319, 16.21%) and cardiovascular system (9,495, 12.49%) medications group. In excessive polypharmacy patients reports, followed by nervous system (4,532, 21.76%), cardiovascular system (3,026, 14.53%) and blood and blood forming organs (1,960, 9.41%) medications group.

Conclusions: This study showed polypharmacy trends in AEs reports. Identifying polypharmacy status in people who reported AEs would contribute to proper drug prescription in elderly patients. AEs reports from KAERS may not contain all concomitant drugs, therefore further study using other databases is needed.