The association between medication use and health-related quality of life in multimorbid older patients with polypharmacy

Aim: To explore the association between medication use-related factors and quality of life in older hospitalised patients with polypharmacy. Findings: Hyperpolypharmacy, a high anticholinergic and sedative burden, presence of multiple prescribing omissions (based on START criteria), the use of opioids, antibiotics and benzodiazepines, and high medication complexity were associated with a lower quality of life. Message: Due to the association with quality of life, evaluating medication use-related factors, especially medication complexity as a novel factor, is important for hospitalised older patients with (hyper)polypharmacy.