Anticholinergic Burden and All-Cause Hospitalizations in Older Adults
| Scale and Score | All-Cause Hospitalizations | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65–74 Years (n = 235,824) | Aged 75–84 Years (n = 118,907) | Aged ≥85 Years (n = 15,790) | |||||||
| No. | aOR (95% CI) | P Value | No. | aOR (95% CI) | P Value | No. | aOR (95% CI) | P Value | |
| ARS | |||||||||
| 0 (ref) | 175,954 | 1.00 | – | 87,169 | 1.00 | – | 11,909 | 1.00 | – |
| 1 | 20,208 | 1.95 (1.91–2.00) | <.001 | 12,166 | 1.85 (1.79–1.92) | <.001 | 1,703 | 1.75 (1.59–1.93) | <.001 |
| 2 | 18,295 | 1.44 (1.40–1.48) | <.001 | 8,987 | 1.42 (1.36–1.48) | <.001 | 1,057 | 1.36 (1.21–1.53) | <.001 |
| 3 | 13,781 | 1.49 (1.45–1.53) | <.001 | 6,806 | 1.36 (1.31–1.41) | <.001 | 718 | 1.20 (1.07–1.36) | .002 |
| ≥4 | 7,586 | 1.69 (1.64–1.75) | <.001 | 3,779 | 1.62 (1.54–1.71) | <.001 | 403 | 1.58 (1.37–1.83) | <.001 |
| ACB | |||||||||
| 0 (ref) | 115,085 | 1.00 | – | 56,126 | 1.00 | – | 8,378 | 1.00 | – |
| 1 | 53,156 | 1.32 (1.26–1.38) | <.001 | 26,370 | 1.31 (1.27–1.35) | <.001 | 3,309 | 1.37 (1.29–1.46) | <.001 |
| 2 | 27,028 | 1.57 (1.50–1.64) | <.001 | 14,574 | 1.59 (1.54–1.64) | <.001 | 1,751 | 1.52 (1.40–1.65) | <.001 |
| 3 | 20,059 | 1.70 (1.63–1.77) | <.001 | 10,565 | 1.61 (1.55–1.66) | <.001 | 1,179 | 1.55 (1.41–1.70) | <.001 |
| ≥4 | 20,496 | 1.92 (1.85–2.00) | <.001 | 11,272 | 1.83 (1.77–1.89) | <.001 | 1,173 | 1.66 (1.51–1.83) | <.001 |
| DBI-Ach | |||||||||
| 0 (ref) | 175,954 | 1.00 | – | 87,173 | 1.00 | – | 11,909 | 1.00 | – |
| 0< score ≤0.5 | 47,217 | 1.61 (1.58–1.63) | <.001 | 25,312 | 1.56 (1.53–1.59) | <.001 | 3,116 | 1.62 (1.53–1.72) | <.001 |
| 0.5< score ≤1 | 12,653 | 1.79 (1.74–1.83) | <.001 | 6,422 | 1.74 (1.68–1.80) | <.001 | 765 | 1.95 (1.75–2.18) | <.001 |
aOR = adjusted odds ratio; ACB = Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale; ARS = Anticholinergic Risk Scale; DBI-Ach = Drug Burden Index - Anticholinergic component; ref=reference group.
Notes: In multivariate generalized estimating equation models. Total sample for analysis was 370,521. Refer to Table 2 notes for description of adjustment and scales.