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Background <p>The prevalence of multimorbidity is increasing and is associated with polypharmacy (PP) and a reduced quality of life (QoL). Polypharmacy consistently correlates with poorer outcomes; however, its relationship with QoL in a broad general practice population is underexplored. For the general practitioner, QoL assessment is resource-intensive; therefore, this study examines whether the number of redeemed unique prescription medications can serve as an indicator for QoL in patients with multimorbidity managed in general practice.</p> Methods <p>This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted with data from questionnaires sent to 160,584 adults from 250 general practices who consulted their general practitioner for an annual chronic disease consultation in 2022. Questionnaire data were linked with socioeconomic and medication data from Danish Registries. We examined the association between the number of redeemed unique prescription medicines and six domains of QoL with linear models and tested for effect modification with multivariable linear models. The multivariable models were adjusted for the covariates sex, age, education, and cohabitation. The number of unique prescription medications that constitute a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was calculated. Further, we presented associations between redeemed unique prescription medications and QoL stratified by the covariates.</p> Results <p>All 35,977 patients who participated in the survey were included in this study, with 18,665 (51.9%) being female. A linear association was found between redeemed unique prescription medications and more burdened QoL in all six domains. The largest association (2.95; 95% CI 2.87–3.03) and lowest MCID (4.4 redemptions) were found in the domain of physical ability. Stratified analyses appeared visually parallel with no clinically meaningful effect modification by any covariate in any QoL domain.</p> Conclusions <p>Findings indicate a potential use of redeemed prescriptions as an indicator for the physical ability domains of QoL in clinical practice. The study found no clinically relevant effect modification.</p>

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Redeemed prescription medicines to measure quality of life of patients with long-term conditions: a national cross-sectional study

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月20日

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  • Henrik Hedegaard Pliess Larsen,
  • Volkert Siersma,
  • Tora Grauers Willadsen,
  • Anna Bernhardt Lyhnebeck,
  • Anders Prior,
  • Frans Boch Waldorff,
  • Anne Holm

摘要

Background

The prevalence of multimorbidity is increasing and is associated with polypharmacy (PP) and a reduced quality of life (QoL). Polypharmacy consistently correlates with poorer outcomes; however, its relationship with QoL in a broad general practice population is underexplored. For the general practitioner, QoL assessment is resource-intensive; therefore, this study examines whether the number of redeemed unique prescription medications can serve as an indicator for QoL in patients with multimorbidity managed in general practice.

Methods

This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted with data from questionnaires sent to 160,584 adults from 250 general practices who consulted their general practitioner for an annual chronic disease consultation in 2022. Questionnaire data were linked with socioeconomic and medication data from Danish Registries. We examined the association between the number of redeemed unique prescription medicines and six domains of QoL with linear models and tested for effect modification with multivariable linear models. The multivariable models were adjusted for the covariates sex, age, education, and cohabitation. The number of unique prescription medications that constitute a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was calculated. Further, we presented associations between redeemed unique prescription medications and QoL stratified by the covariates.

Results

All 35,977 patients who participated in the survey were included in this study, with 18,665 (51.9%) being female. A linear association was found between redeemed unique prescription medications and more burdened QoL in all six domains. The largest association (2.95; 95% CI 2.87–3.03) and lowest MCID (4.4 redemptions) were found in the domain of physical ability. Stratified analyses appeared visually parallel with no clinically meaningful effect modification by any covariate in any QoL domain.

Conclusions

Findings indicate a potential use of redeemed prescriptions as an indicator for the physical ability domains of QoL in clinical practice. The study found no clinically relevant effect modification.