Medical comorbidity and psychotropic medication fills in older adults with XXXX .

@entity1 @entity308 @entity263 @entity0 @entity5
BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that as @entity1 age, distress decreases despite an increase in prevalence of medical comorbidity. This could be due to increased use of psychotropic medications with comorbidity. We tested this hypothesis in older adults. METHODS: Information from medical records of older adults (65 to 99  years of age) in the following groups was collected: @entity1 with @entity0 (n   =   2359), @entity1 without any @entity5 diagnosis (n   =   27,161), @entity1 with @entity263 (n   =   2686), and @entity1 without any @entity5 diagnosis (n   =   21,014). We collected fills of antidepressant or sedative medications, diagnosis of @entity308 in the year of @entity5 diagnosis, and Charlson Comorbidity Index from the year before @entity5 . RESULTS: @entity1 with @entity0 were more likely to fill psychotropic prescriptions (both ps   <   0.02) or be diagnosed with @entity308 (p   <   0.001) than @entity1 without @entity5 . @entity1 with @entity263 were more likely to fill these prescriptions or receive a diagnosis of @entity308 than @entity1 without @entity5 (ps   <   0.05). Charlson was related to increased odds of filling both types of medication in @entity1 with @entity0 and @entity1 with @entity263 (ps   <   0.001). Comorbidity was related to greater odds of receiving a @entity308 diagnosis in @entity1 with @entity263 (p   <   0.001) but not @entity1 with @entity0 (p   >   0.15). CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with @entity0 are more likely to fill psychotropic medication prescriptions and receive a @entity308 diagnosis than those without @entity5 . Comorbidity increased the likelihood of medication fills in older adults with @entity5 . As this population experiences polypharmacy, nonpharmacologic treatments for @entity308 may need to be considered.
