Karolina Antonov

Factors Associated with Multiple Medication Use in Different Age Groups

Background: Multiple medicine use among elderly persons is likely to be the result of treatment regimens developed over a long period of time. By learning more about how multiple medication use develops, the quality of prescribing may be improved across the adult lifespan. Objective: To describe patterns of multiple medicine use in the general Swedish population and its association with sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health status factors. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional population health survey collected during 2001-2005 from 2816 randomly selected Swedish residents (age 30–75 y; response rate 76%) were analyzed. Multiple medicine use was restricted to prescription drugs and defined as the 75th percentile; that is, the 25% of the study group using the highest number of drugs per individual. Results: Seventy-one percent of the respondents used some kind of drug, 51.5% used one or more prescription drug, 38.4% used one or more over-the-counter (OTC) medication, and 8.3% used one or more herbal preparation. The cutoff amounts defining multiple medicine use were: 2 or more medications for 30- to 49-year-olds, 3 or more for 50- to 64-year-olds, and 5 or more for 65- to 75-year-olds. No association between use of multiple medicines and use of OTC drugs or herbal preparations was found. When drugs were classified into therapeutic subgroups, 76.3% of those aged 30–49 years, 97.9% of those aged 50–64 years, and 100% of those aged 65–75 years were taking a unique combination of drugs. Multivariate analyses showed that diabetes and poor self-rated health were associated with multiple medicine use in all age cohorts. Female sex and hypertension were associated with multiple medicine use among those aged 30–49 and 50–64 years, current smoking among those aged 50–64 years, and obesity among those aged 65–75 years. Conclusions: Multiple medicine use was associated with morbidity and poor self-rated health across all age groups. The vast majority of users of multiple drugs are taking a unique combination of medications.

Use of analgesics in Sweden—The importance of sociodemographic factors, physical fitness, health and health-related factors, and working conditions

In this study, factors related to analgesic use-independent of their association with pain-were studied in the general Swedish population. These included sociodemographics, health and health-related factors, physical fitness and working conditions. Data from the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions for the two-year period 1988/89 were used. In this survey a random sample (n = 13,295, response rate 79.4%) of the Swedish population aged 16 years and older was interviewed about health, medication use and related matters, among other things. In all, 35% of the population used analgesics at least once during a two-week period, and analgesic use was more than 50% higher among women than men. Analgesic use was less common among those aged 45-64 years and 65-74 years than those 18-44, after controlling for all other variables. The study showed that self-perceived poor health and pain explain much analgesic use. Analgesic use is further explained by lifestyle, sleeping problems, and health care utilization. Marital status, educational level, socioeconomic status, social network and working conditions were found to be of minor importance.

Headache in Sweden: The Importance of Working Conditions

Headache is a common health problem that causes individual suffering as well as public expense. Because epidemiological studies have shown that headache is most prevalent among persons younger than 55 years, the influence of working conditions is of interest. In this study, we examined the importance of working conditions as a risk factor for frequent headache among the general Swedish population.

Interaction Between Participants in Focus Groups With Older Patients and General Practitioners

Group interaction is put forward as the principal advantage for focus group research, although rarely reported on. The aim of the article is to contribute to the methodological knowledge regarding focus group research by providing an empirical example of the application of the Lehoux, Poland, and Daudelin template suggested for analysis of the interaction in focus groups. The data source was 18 focus groups’ performance in Sweden: 12 with older patients and 6 with general practitioners (GPs). GPs found common ground in belonging to the same profession, whereas the older patients, instead of constituting a group in the word’s real sense, started just sharing a common focus. We found the template easy to understand and use, except for identifying participants’ explicit and implicit purposes for participating. Furthermore, adding an interaction analysis to the content analysis helped us appreciate and clarify the contexts from which these data were created.

Headache and Analgesic Use in Sweden

In this study, patterns of analgesic use among persons with headache in the general Swedish population were analyzed in association with health factors, health care utilization, sociodemographic factors, and life‐style.

Long-Term Use of Neuroleptics among Elderly in a Swedish Community

OBJECTIVE: Analysis of long-term use of neuroleptics among the elderly in a Swedish community. DESIGN: Cohort study, three-year follow-up period. SETTING: Primary care. PATIENTS: All people aged 65 years or older who used neuroleptics in 1984. RESULTS: Neuroleptic use was fairly common among elderly and continued long-term use was relatively frequent. One third of long-term users obtained doses exceeding a recommended dosage range. Prescribed doses were seldom changed during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The high proportion of long-term users and the stability of the prescribed doses indicate that there is a need for more information to be made available to prescribers regarding the risks of long-term use of neuroleptics in primary care.