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Polypharmacy and Health-Related Quality of Life/Psychological Distress Among Patients With Chronic Disease

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Figure 1.

Percentage of patients reporting problems on the 5 EQ-5D-5L dimensions, by whether patient reported polypharmacy, defined in study as use of ≥5 medications. P values were determined by logistic regression and were adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, and multimorbidity; significance level set at <.05. Abbreviation: EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol-5 Dimension-5 Level questionnaire.

Percentage of patients reporting problems on the 5 EQ-5D-5L dimensions, by whether patient reported polypharmacy, defined in study as use of ≥5 medications. P values were determined by logistic regression and were adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, and multimorbidity; significance level set at <.05. Abbreviation: EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol-5 Dimension-5 Level questionnaire.
Level of problems Mobility (P= .01) Self-care (P= .65) Usual activities (P= .02) Pain/discomfort (P= .29) Anxiety/depression (P= .08)
No polypharmacy Polypharmacy No polypharmacy Polypharmacy No polypharmacy Polypharmacy No polypharmacy Polypharmacy No polypharmacy Polypharmacy
No problems 52.0 34.6 76.0 70.3 38.0 30.1 23.1 16.0 54.8 48.0
Slight problems 23.5 21.2 15.8 15.2 24.4 22.7 27.1 20.8 26.2 26.4
Moderate problems 16.7 28.6 5.4 9.3 21.7 26.4 27.6 28.3 12.7 17.1
Severe problems 6.3 11.9 1.4 3.7 12.7 16.0 19.9 30.5 5.0 7.1
Extreme problems/unable to 1.4 3.7 1.4 1.5 3.2 4.8 2.3 4.5 1.4 1.5

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Figure 2. EQ-5D-5L index, EQ-VAS, SF-12 physical component score, SF-12 mental health component score, HADS anxiety subscale, and HADS depression subscale, by medication use. The horizontal bar inside the boxes indicates the median, the x indicates the mean, and the lower and upper ends of the boxes are the first and third quartiles. The whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values. P values were determined by F test (1-way analysis of variance) and adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, and multimorbidity; significance level set at <.05. Abbreviations: EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol 5 Dimension-5 Level questionnaire; EQ-VAS, EuroQol visual analogue scale; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; SF-12, 12-Item Short Form Health Survey.

EQ-5D-5L index, EQ-VAS, SF-12 physical component score, SF-12 mental health component score, HADS anxiety subscale, and HADS depression subscale, by medication use. The horizontal bar inside the boxes indicates the median, the x indicates the mean, and the lower and upper ends of the boxes are the first and third quartiles. The whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values. P values were determined by F test (1-way analysis of variance) and adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, and multimorbidity; significance level set at <.05. Abbreviations: EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol 5 Dimension-5 Level questionnaire; EQ-VAS, EuroQol visual analogue scale; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; SF-12, 12-Item Short Form Health Survey.
Item 0 to <5 medications 5 to <10 medications ≥10 medications
Mean (SD) Median (interquartile range) Minimum–maximum Mean (SD) Median (interquartile range) Minimum–maximum Mean (SD) Median (interquartile range) Minimum–maximum
EQ-5D-5L index score 0.7 (0.3) 0.8 (0.5 to 0.9) −0.1 to 1 0.6 (0.3) 0.7 (0.4 to 0.9) −0.2 to 1 0.5 (0.3) 0.5 (0.2 to 0.8) −0.2 to 0.9
EQ-VAS 62.6 (18.2) 65.0 (50.0 to 75.0) 15 to 100 59.9 (17.6) 63.0 (50.0 to 75.0) 18 to 100 51.7 (20.0) 60.0 (35.0 to 70.0) 3 to 80
SF-12 PCS 39.2 (11.9) 38.1 (29.3 to 50.2) 16 to 63 36.4 (11.0) 34.0 (28.8 to 45.7) 14 to 59 29.7 (8.7) 29.3 (22.3 to 34.0) 17 to 50
SF-12 MCS 43.3 (11.4) 43.3 (34.2 to 53.4) 19 to 64 43.5 (12.3) 45.3 (33.1 to 53.9) 18 to 67 40.1 (13.1) 39.3 (29.4 to 52.3) 19 to 64
HADS-anxiety 7.5 (5.0) 7.0 (4.0 to 11.0) 0 to 21 7.3 (4.9) 7.0 (3.0 to 11.0) 0 to 20 8.4 (4.3) 8.0 (6.0 to 12.0) 0 to 19
HADS-depression 6.5 (4.8) 6.0 (2.0 to 9.0) 0 to 18 6.9 (4.8) 6.0 (3.0 to 10.0) 0 to 20 8.7 (4.6) 8.0 (5.0 to 12.0) 1 to 20

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