Obesity Accounts for Considerable Proportion of Polypharmacy Cases

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Obesity accounts for a considerable amount of cases of polypharmacy among older adults, according to a study published online June 4 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Alissa S. Chen, M.D., from Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from the 2021 to 2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for adults ≥65 years to estimate the proportion of polypharmacy (defined as self-reporting taking five or more prescription medications) attributable to obesity.

The study sample included 1,944 individuals, representing 53.2 million older adults. The researchers found that 38.7 percent had body mass index (BMI)-defined obesity (22.6 and 16.1 percent with class 1 and classes 2 to 4 obesity, respectively); 70.5 percent had waist circumference-defined obesity. Polypharmacy prevalence was 41.8 percent. Polypharmacy was more prevalent among those with versus without BMI-defined obesity (51.1 versus 35.9 percent). The population-attributable fraction (PAF) of polypharmacy due to BMI-defined obesity was 14.8 percent, corresponding to about 3.3 million older adults. The PAF for polypharmacy due to class 1 and class 2 to 4 obesity was 4.9 and 9.7 percent, respectively, while for waist circumference-defined obesity it was 24.8 percent.

“We”re at a crossroads for the use of obesity medications like GLPs [glucagon-like peptides] in older adults,” senior author Alexandra M. Hajduk, Ph.D., M.P.H., also from Yale School of Medicine, said in a statement. “This study gives us a first glimpse into one way in which GLPs may change the face of health and health care for older adults.”

One author disclosed ties to the biomedical industry.

Abstract/Full Text