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Table 1 Characteristics of the population of 65 years and older, in percentage, Belgium, 2008

From: Factors associated with excessive polypharmacy in older people

Characteristic

Total mean: 3.5

0–4 medicines (N = 1769) mean: 1.7

5-8 medicines (N = 811) mean: 6.1

> = 9 medicines [919] (N = 255) mean: 10.6

 

%

95 % CI

%

95 % CI

%

95 % CI

%

95 % CI

N = 2835

100.0

 

67.0

64.4–69.7

24.8

22.4–27.1

8.2

6.3–10.1

Demographics (N = 2835)

        

Gender

        

 Males

41.2

39.1–43.3

43.5

40.7–46.3

37.6

32.9–42.3

33.4

19.3–47.5

 Females

58.8

56.7–60.9

56.5

53.7–59.3

62.4

57.7–67.0

66.6

52.5–80.7

Age

        

 65–69

23.2

20.5–25.9

26.8

23.3–30.2

17.2

13.0–21.4

12.2

5.5–18.9

 70–74

27.2

24.1–30.3

27.9

24.3–31.5

24.8

19.5–30.0

28.7

13.4–44.0

 75–79

19.4

17.1–21.7

19.4

16.5–22.3

20.0

16.1–24.0

17.1

10.1–24.1

 > = 80

30.2

27.7–32.8

25.9

23.0–28.9

38.0

33.1–42.8

42.0

31.1–52.9

Socioeconomic status

        

Education (N = 2689)

        

 No degree/Primary

30.4

27.3–33.4

27.6

24.1–31.1

35.0

29.9–40.0

38.9

27.4–50.4

 Lower secondary

24.4

21.0–27.7

22.4

18.8–26.0

26.3

21.1–31.4

34.9

20.1–49.8

 Higher secondary

27.0

23.8–30.2

29.2

25.3–33.1

23.9

19.1–28.8

18.4

10.3–26.5

 Higher education

18.2

15.6–20.9

20.8

17.5–24.0

14.8

10.6–19.0

7.8

3.2–12.3

Equivalent household income (N = 2271)

        

 Quintile 1

20.5

17.2–23.8

19.6

16.2–23.0

17.6

13.6–21.6

37.1

20.7–53.6

 Quintile 2

32.8

29.2–36.4

32.5

28.2–36.9

34.0

28.4–29.6

31.0

19.8–42.3

 Quintile 3

25.4

21.9–28.8

24.2

20.1–28.3

30.2

24.5–35.8

20.3

11.1–29.5

 Quintile 4

11.2

9.1–13.4

11.7

9.0–14.4

10.6

7.2–14.0

9.0

3.7–14.4

 Quintile 5

10.1

7.9–12.2

11.9

9.2–14.7

7.6

4.2–11.0

2.5

0.2–4.8

Living situation (N = 2820)

        

 Living alone or with other person(s) in home setting

94.4

93.4–95.4

95.9

94.8–96.9

92.3

90.3–94.4

88.6

84.0–93.2

 Living in a residential home for the elderly

5.6

4.6–6.6

4.1

3.1–5.2

7.6

5.6–9.7

11.4

6.8–16.0

Region (N = 2835)

        

 Flemish Region

61.2

58.9–63.4

66.2

63.4–68.9

50.8

45.8–55.8

51.8

39.8–63.9

 Brussels Region

8.8

8.1–9.5

8.5

7.6–9.5

9.7

8.0–11.4

7.8

4.6–10.9

 Walloon Region

30.1

28.0–32.1

25.3

22.7–27.9

39.5

34.7–44.3

40.4

29.6–51.1

Health status

        

Longstanding illness, chronic conditions or handicaps (N = 2819)

        

 Yes

54.0

51.0–56.9

42.3

38.7–45.9

73.4

69.0–77.9

90.2

85.0–95.4

 No

46.0

43.1–49.0

57.7

54.1–61.3

26.6

22.1–31.0

9.8

4.6–15.0

Depression during the past 12 months (N = 2794)

        

 Yes

6.8

4.9–8.6

4.2

2.8–5.5

8.0

5.6–10.4

24.4

8.9–39.9

 No

93.2

91.4–95.1

95.8

94.4–97.2

92.0

89.6–94.4

75.6

60.1–91.1

Contact with health services

        

Contact with GP in past 2 months (N = 2811)

        

 Yes

73.8

71.1–76.4

65.4

61.8–69.0

89.4

86.4–92.5

94.1

89.9–98.3

 No

26.2

23.6–28.9

34.6

31.0–38.2

10.6

7.4–13.6

5.9

1.7–10.1

Contact with specialist in past 2 months (N = 2817)

        

 Yes

27.8

25.3–30.3

24.8

21.6–27.9

33.3

28.2–38.4

36.3

25.6–47.0

 No

72.2

69.7–74.7

75.2

72.1–78.3

66.7

61.6–71.8

63.7

53.0–74.4

Inpatient hospitalization in past 12 months (N = 2813)

        

 Yes

18.2

16.0–20.4

14.0

11.5–16.5

23.5

19.4–27.6

36.1

25.1–47.1

 No

81.8

79.6–84.0

86.0

83.5–88.5

76.5

72.4–90.6

63.9

52.9–74.9

1 day patient hospitalization in past 12 months (N = 2807)

        

 Yes

11.0

9.1–12.9

10.2

7.9–12.6

13.4

9.5–17.4

10.3

5.0–15.5

 No

89.0

87.1–90.9

89.8

87.4–92.1

86.6

82.6–90.5

89.7

84.5–95.0