Older Adults Taking 5 Or More Prescription Drugs Had 38% Higher Mortality Risk

Older adults taking five or more prescription medications had a 38% higher mortality risk than those who were not taking five or more medications, even after researchers accounted for organ function, health conditions, health behaviors, and other types of higher-risk medication use. Polypharmacy, defined as taking five or more prescription medications, was the only one of three medication-risk measures studied that remained independently associated with mortality after all three were considered together.

More than half, 54.3%, of the older adults studied had at least one of three types of higher-risk medication use: polypharmacy, a major drug . . .