title: Physical performance measures and polypharmacy among hospitalized older adults: results from the CRIME study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association of polypharmacy and physical performance measures in a sample of elderly patients aged ≥65 years admitted to acute care hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study conducted among 1123 hospitalized older adults participating to the CRiteria to Assess Appropriate Medication Use among Elderly Complex Patients (CRIME) project.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physical performance was measured at hospital admission by the 4-meter walking speed (WS) and the grip strength (GS). Polypharmacy was defined as the use of ≥10 drugs during hospital stay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of 1123 participants was 81.5±7.4 years and 576 (51.3%) were on polypharmacy. Prevalence of polypharmacy was higher in patients with low WS and GS. After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in the highest tertile of WS were less likely to be on polypharmacy as compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.35 - 0.96). Similarly, participants in the highest tertile of GS had a significantly lower likelihood of polypharmacy as compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.36 - 0.84). When examined as continuous variables, WS and GS were inversely associated with polypharmacy (WS: OR 0.77 per 1 SD increment; 95% CI 0.60 - 0.98; GS: OR 0.71 per 1 SD increment; 95% CI 0.56 - 0.90).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among hospitalized older adults WS and GS are inversely related to polypharmacy. These measures should be incorporated in standard assessment of in-hospital patients.
authors.affiliation: Federica Sganga, Centro Medicina dellrsquor;Invecchiamento, Department of Gerontology, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168, Roma, Italy, Tel. +39 06 30154341, Fax +39 06 3051911, E-mail: federica.sganga@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sganga
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Vetrano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volpato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherubini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corsonello
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fabbietti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lattanzio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bernabei
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Onder
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019338:Polypharmacy; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology