Dietz N, Alkin V, Agarwal N, Bjurström MF, Ugiliweneza B, Wang D, Sharma M, Drazin D, Boakye M. Polypharmacy in spinal cord injury: Matched cohort analysis comparing drug classes, medical complications, and healthcare utilization metrics with 24-month follow-up.
J Spinal Cord Med 2024:1-10. [PMID:
39037335 DOI:
10.1080/10790268.2024.2375892]
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Polypharmacy in spinal cord injury (SCI) is common and predisposes patients to increased risk of adverse events. Evaluation of long-term health consequences and economic burden of polypharmacy in patients with SCI is explored.
DESIGN
Retrospective cohort.
METHODS
The IBM Marketscan Research Databases claims-based dataset was queried to search for adult patients with SCI with a 2-year follow-up.
PARTICIPANTS
Two matched cohorts were analyzed: those with and without polypharmacy, analyzing index hospitalization, readmissions, payments, and health outcomes.
RESULTS
A total of 11 569 individuals with SCI were included, of which 7235 (63%) were in the polypharmacy group who took a median of 11 separate drugs over two years. Opioid analgesics were the most common medication, present in 57% of patients with SCI meeting the criteria of polypharmacy, followed by antidepressant medications (46%) and muscle relaxants (40%). Risk of pneumonia was increased for the polypharmacy group (58%) compared to the non-polypharmacy group (45%), as were urinary tract infection (79% versus 63%), wound infection (30% versus 21%), depression (76% versus 57%), and adverse drug events (24% versus 15%) at 2 years. Combined median healthcare payments were higher in polypharmacy at 2 years ($44 333 vs. $10 937, P < .0001).
CONCLUSION
Majority of individuals with SCI met the criteria for polypharmacy with nearly 60% of those prescribed opioids and taking drugs from high-risk side effect profiles. Polypharmacy in SCI was associated with a greater risk of pneumonia, depression, urinary tract infections, adverse drug events, and emergency room visits over two years with four times higher overall healthcare payments at 1-year post-injury.
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