Research Article
Polypharmacy among Underserved Older African American Adults
Table 1
Characteristics of study sample by high versus low medication use (
= 400).
| | Characteristic of sample | (%) | Groups of medication users | 0–4
N (%)
100 (25) | ≥5
N (%)
300 (75) | Value |
| | Gender | | | | | | Female | 259 (65) | 50 (19) | 209 (81) | 0.001 | | Male | 141 (35) | 50 (36) | 91 (65) | | | Age | | | | | | 65–69 | 135 (34) | 47 (35) | 88 (65) | 0.002 | | 70–79 | 180 (45) | 31 (17) | 149 (83) | | | ≥80 | 85 (21) | 22 (26) | 63 (74) | | | Education | | | | | | No high school diploma | 99 (25) | 19 (19) | 80 (81) | 0.078 | | High school diploma | 301 (75) | 81 (27) | 220 (73) | | | Marital status | | | | | | Married/living with partner | 78 (20) | 17 (22) | 61 (78) | 0.283 | | Not married | 322 (80) | 83 (26) | 239 (74) | | | Copayment for RX | | | | | | No | 83 (21) | 27 (33) | 56 (67) | 0.075 | | Yes | 317 (79) | 73 (23) | 244 (77) | | | Number of providers | | | | | | 1-2 | 247 (62) | 92 (37) | 155 (63) | 0.001 | | ≥3 | 153 (38) | 8 (5) | 145 (95) | | | Number of pharmacies | | | | | | 1 | 287 (72) | 82 (29) | 205 (71) | 0.009 | | ≥2 | 113 (28) | 18 (16) | 95 (84) | | | Number of Comorbidity | | | | | | ≤3 | 128 (32) | 60 (47) | 68 (53) | 0.001 | | 4–7 | 195 (49) | 34 (17) | 161 (83) | | | ≥8 | 77 (19) | 6 (8) | 71 (92) | | | Smoking status | | | | | | Current | 81 (20) | 14 (17) | 67 (83) | 0.001 | | Former | 64 (16) | 28 (44) | 36 (56) | | | Never | 255 (64) | 58 (23) | 197 (77) | | | Alcohol use (drinks per day) | | | | | | None | 291 (73) | 70 (24) | 221 (76) | 0.404 | | 1-2 | 71 (18) | 22 (31) | 49 (69) | | | ≥3 | 38 (9) | 8 (21) | 30 (79) | | | Number of PIM | | | | | | None | 122 (31) | 54 (44) | 68 (56) | 0.001 | | One | 143 (36) | 31 (112) | 112 (78) | | | ≥2 | 135 (34) | 15 (11) | 120 (89) | | | Level of pain | | | | | | None-mild | 114 (29) | 46 (40) | 68 (60) | 0.001 | | Moderate | 84 (21) | 22 (26) | 62 (74) | | | Severe | 202 (50) | 32 (16) | 170 (84) | |
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