HYBRID EVENT: You can participate in person at Singapore or Virtually from your home or work.

4th Edition of

International Public Health Conference

March 24-26, 2025 | Singapore

IPHC 2022

The Polypharma Study Association Between Diet and Amount of Prescription Drugs Among Seniors

Speaker at Public Health Conference 2022 - Alaa Alabadi Bierman
Loma Linda University, United States
Title : The Polypharma Study Association Between Diet and Amount of Prescription Drugs Among Seniors

Abstract:

Polypharmacy, commonly described as the use of five or more prescribed medications, is a prevalent health issue among seniors because of the potential adverse side effects due to medication interactions. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns and number of medications used. We hypothesized that a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle choices decreases morbidities and number of medications taken. Data on 328 participants, aged 60 years or older, were collected through questionnaires and measurements at the Loma Linda University Drayson Center in Loma Linda, CA, between 2015 and 2016. The dependent variable was the number of pills taken, used as counts, and the main exposure was the type of diet adopted. Negative binomial regression was used for analysis. Results suggest that a vegan diet reduces the number of pills by 58% compared to non-vegetarian (IRR=.42 [95% CI: .25-.70]), even after adjusting for covariates. Increases in age, body mass index (BMI), and presence of disease suggest an increased number of pills taken. A vegan diet showed the lowest amount of pills in this sample. Body mass index also had a significant positive association with the number of pills.

Biography:

Dr. Alabadi-Bierman studied Research Epidemiology at the Loma Linda University and graduated as MPH in 2018. She then started her doctoral journey at the same institution in Preventive Care, she is expected to graduate with her DrPH in June 2022. She joined the Preventive Care research group of Dr. Dos Santos at the Department of Healthy Lifestyle and Disease Prevention, Office of Preventive Care as a research assistant. During this year (2021), she obtained the position of a Health Educator at the Beaver Medical Group. She has published her first two articles in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.

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