Association between Polypharmacy and Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between polypharmacy and depression, anxiety and stress in elderly. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 396 elderly admitted to two different hospitals in a province in eastern Türkiye. Information Form and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were used to collect data. The data were obtained between August and September 2023. Results: Polypharmacy was present in 43.7% of the elderly. In the study, it was determined that income status (OR=0.385; %95 GA=0.163-0.909, P=.029), hypertension (OR=3.899; 95% CI=1.606-9.466, P=.003), coronary artery disease (OR=6.677; 95% CI=2.620-17.020, P=.001), diabetes (OR=3.924; 95% CI=1.543-9.981, P=.004), lung disease (OR=8.893; 95% CI=2.909-27.180, P<.001), hyperlipidemia (OR=20.023; 95% CI=5.737-69.887, P<.001), kidney disease (OR=16.514; 95% CI=5.873-46.431, P<.001), thyroid disease (OR=7.213; 95% CI=2.255-23.079, P<.001), cancer (OR=24.783; 95% CI=6.755-90.933, P<.001) and thinking that they were using too much drug (OR=0.484; 95% CI=0.233-1.005, P=.052) were significant risk factors for polypharmacy. It was observed that the presence of depression, anxiety and stress was not a significant risk factor for polypharmacy in the elderly (P>.05). Conclusion: Further study on association between polypharmacy and depression, anxiety and stress in elderly is necessary. In future studies, it is recommended to use more comprehensive measurement tools, to evaluate which group the medicines used by the elderly belong to and to test causality.