Polypharmacy and the Contributing Factors among Elderly Patients in Shashemene Referral Hospital, West Arsi, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Background: Population ageing is a result of high life expectancy and declining fertility. Medication use in older people is a particular public health concern since the older population has a higher prevalence of multiple drug use referred to as ‘poly-pharmacy’. This study aimed to determine poly-pharmacy and the contributing factors among elderly patients at Shashemene Referral Hospital. Materials and methods: A Health facility based prospective cross sectional study was conducted. Elders of 65 and above years old were enrolled. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 16.0 software. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess association of variables with poly-pharmacy. Statistical significance was conducted at p-value<0.05. Results: The total number of population enrolled in the study was 116 elders (60 yrs old and above). Among this, 59.5% were males. The primary diagnosis of most patients was infection (50% (n=58)) and followed by cardiovascular disorders (18.1% (n=21)). The widely used drug group was antimicrobials (58.7%), followed by cardiovascular (25%) and GIT drugs (13.8%). Almost half, (48.3%), of population were taking 1-2 drugs. The maximum total number of drug per patient was seven drugs of the same or different classes. Poly-pharmacy was observed among almost one-third (32.75%) of study subjects with highest prevalence among younger elders (65yrs-69 yrs old). The polypharmacy that has been seen in elderly in highest prevalence was appropriate poly-pharmacy, 79%. Co-morbidity (AOR=7.427) and occupation, employee, (AOR=8.840) were the contributing factors of poly-pharmacy. Conclusion and recommendations: In this study, a total of 116 elderly patients, 69 males and 47 females, were involved. The primary diagnosis of most patients was infection. Co-morbidity has been seen in over one-third of the study subjects. The widely used drug group was antimicrobials, followed by cardiovascular. The study also shows that poly-pharmacy was prevalent in almost one third of the elderly patients in SRH. The multivariate logistic regression showed that co-morbidity and occupation, employee, were the factors independently associated with poly-pharmacy. The health care system should improve the prescribing process among elderly patients.