ECTRIMS 2022 | Population-based study on polypharmacy and multiple sclerosis

Anibal Chertcoff, MD, PhD, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, provides insights into a study conducted to evaluate the prevalence of polypharmacy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This study used administrative and pharmacy data from British Columbia, Canada, to identify MS patients and estimate polypharmacy prevalence. Of 14,000 patients with multiple sclerosis, 28% fulfilled the polypharmacy criteria defined as concurrent administration of five drugs for 30 days or more. It was also observed that the odds of polypharmacy were higher for women, older persons, and those with more comorbidities but lower socioeconomic status. Antidepressants, antiepileptics, and peptic ulcer drugs were the medication classes that most contributed to polypharmacy. Antidepressants were most frequently co-prescribed with antiepileptics and peptic ulcer drugs, but it was also found that many CNS active medications were co-prescribed. This interview took place at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Congress 2022 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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