Central nervous system-active medication polypharmacy and risk for nursing home admission among adults with early-onset dementia: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

While central nervous system (CNS)-active medication polypharmacy is prevalent among adults with early-onset dementia (EOD), its impact on nursing home (NH) admission is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether CNS-active medication polypharmacy is associated with risk for NH admission among patients with EOD.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study using 2012-2021 MarketScan Databases was conducted with adults aged 30 to 64 years diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). CNS-active medication polypharmacy was assessed during a fixed 6-month period after an indexed ADRD diagnosis and defined as concurrent use of ≥3 CNS-active medications on the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria list that overlapped for ≥30 consecutive days. Cox hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of NH admission between patients with versus without CNS-active medication polypharmacy, with adjustment for baseline covariates via inverse probability of treatment weighting.

RESULTS

Of the 18,029 patients with EOD identified, those with CNS-active medication polypharmacy (versus those without) had an increased risk of NH admission (HR, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.16-1.56]). The risk was pronounced in patients aged >50 years, male patients, patients with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia, and patients having baseline use of anti-dementia medications.

CONCLUSIONS

In this commercially insured population of adults with EOD, receipt of CNS-active medication polypharmacy was associated with risk for NH admission. The finding, however, should be interpreted with caution, as it may reflect differences in the underlying disease severity and clinical indications treated by the studied CNS-active medications.