Associations Between Polypharmacy, Symptom Burden, and Quality of Life in Patients with Advanced, Life-Limiting Illness

BackgroundPolypharmacy may be particularly burdensome near the end of life, as patients accumulate medications to treat and prevent multiple diseases.ObjectiveTo evaluate associations between polypharmacy, symptom burden, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with advanced, life-limiting illness (clinician-estimated, 1month-1year).DesignSecondary analysis of baseline data from a trial of statin discontinuation.ParticipantsAdults with advanced, life-limiting illness.Main MeasuresPolypharmacy was assessed by summing the number of non-statin medications taken regularly or as needed. Symptom burden was assessed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (range 0-90; higher scores indicating greater symptom burden) and QOL was assessed using the McGill QOL Questionnaire (range 0-10; higher scores indicating better QOL). Linear regression models assessed associations between polypharmacy, symptom burden, and QOL.Key ResultsAmong 372 participants, 47% were age 75 or older and 35% were enrolled in hospice. The mean symptom score was 27.0 (standard deviation (SD) 16.1) and the mean QOL score was 7.0 (SD 1.3). The average number of non-statin medications was 11.6 (SD 5.0); one-third of participants took 14 medications. In adjusted models, higher polypharmacy was associated with higher symptom burden (coefficient 0.81; p<.001) and lower QOL (coefficient -.06; p=.001). Adjusting for symptom burden weakened the association between polypharmacy and QOL (coefficient -.03; p=.045) without a significant interaction, suggesting that worse quality of life associated with polypharmacy may be related to medication-associated symptoms.ConclusionsAmong adults with advanced illness, taking more medications is associated with higher symptom burden and lower QOL. Attention to medication-related symptoms and shared decision-making regarding deprescribing are warranted in this setting.NIH Trial Registry NumberClinicalTrials.gov Identifier for Parent Study - NCT01415934