| Title: | Increase in anticholinergic burden from 1990 to 2015: Age-period-cohort analysis in UK biobank |
| Journal: | British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology |
| Published: | 19 Sep 2021 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34409635/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15045 |
| URL: | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/bcp.15045 |
Publication 5225
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The use of prescription drugs with anticholinergic properties has been associated with multiple negative health outcomes in older people. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that associated adverse effects may occur even decades after stopping anticholinergic use. Despite the implicated importance of examining longitudinal patterns of anticholinergic prescribing for different age groups, few such data are available.</p>
METHODS: We performed an age-period-cohort (APC) analysis to study trends in an aggregate measure of anticholinergic burden between the years 1990 and 2015, utilising data from >220 000 UK Biobank participants with linked prescription data from primary care.</p>
RESULTS: Anticholinergic burden in the sample increased up to 9-fold over 25 years and was observed for both period and age effects across most classes of drugs. The greatest increase was seen in the prescribing of antidepressants. Female sex, lower education and greater deprivation were associated with greater anticholinergic burden.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: The increase in anticholinergic prescribing is mostly due to an increase in polypharmacy and is attributable to both ageing of participants and period-related changes in prescribing practices. Research is needed to clarify the implications of rising anticholinergic use for public health and to contextualise this rise in light of other relevant prescribing practices.</p>
8 Keywords
- Aged
- Biological Specimen Banks
- Cholinergic Antagonists
- Cohort Studies
- Female
- Humans
- Polypharmacy
- United Kingdom
5 Authors
- Jure Mur
- Simon R. Cox
- Riccardo E. Marioni
- Graciela Muniz-Terrera
- Tom C. Russ
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 10279 | The relationship of cognitive function and negative emotions with morbidity and mortality: an aetiological investigation |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health