Abstract
Background
The incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates of chronic diseases are increasing worldwide. Patients with these conditions are also at an increased risk of polypharmacy and poor health-related quality of life. These problems are associated with major problems in chronically ill patients but are commonly studied only in the elderly population rather than in the entire adult population. This study aimedto examine the determinants of health-related quality of life and polypharmacy among chronically ill adult patients at Wolaita Sodo Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Southern Ethiopia 2023.
Methods
A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 348 chronically ill adult patients from the medical ward and chronic care units of Wolaita Sodo University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from June 1/2023 to September 30/2023. Study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The data were collected using the WHO-BREF scale and a customized data abstraction chart. Statistical software for the social sciences, version 27, was used to conduct the binary and multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results
The prevalence of polypharmacy and poor health-related quality of life was 30.5% and 19.7%, respectively. Having comorbidities (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.48, 95% CI 0 19-0.81, p =0.003), being from the medical ward (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.48, 95% CI 0 073-0.51, p =0.001), polypharmacy (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.25, 95% CI 0 1- 0.62, p =0.003) and being divorced (adjusted odds ratio = 0.08 95% CI (0.012-0.58 p = 0.012) were significantly associated with poor health-related quality of life. Self-employment(AOR = 3.69, 95% CI 1.37-9.97, p = 0.01) and medical ward admission (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI 0.22-0.74, p = 0.03) were significantly associated with polypharmacy.
Conclusion: The prevalence of polypharmacy and poor health-related quality of life was high. To better benefit patients with these two problems, it is important to act by targeting patients with comorbidities from medical wards and self-employed individuals.