Statistical analyses

Patient characteristics were reported as mean and standard deviation or proportions as appropriate. Proportions of specific drug use upon admission and their changes after medication review were calculated. The total number and reasons for readmissions as well as mortality within the first six months after discharge from hospital were determined. The relations of total number and type of discharge medications with readmission risk or death, as the categorical dependent variables, respectively, were assessed using a multivariable-adjusted (for age and gender) logistic regression model. In a subsidiary analysis, only readmissions due to fall injury, infection, or cardiovascular disease were assessed as a categorical dependent variable. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). All tests were two-sided whereby p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.