Multimorbidity associated with polypharmacy and negative self-perception of health

Abstract

Objective: to verify the association between the multimorbidity of the elderly and sociodemographic variables, self-perception of health and polypharmacy. Method: a cross-sectional study was performed. The research data was collected using the Health, Well-Being and Aging questionnaire. The sample was composed of 676 people aged 60 years or more, who were residents of small towns in the north of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The dependent variable was multimorbidity, that is, the occurrence of two or more chronic non-communicable diseases in the same person. The independent variables were demographic, socioeconomic and health-related characteristics. Poisson's raw and robust regression model was used to analyze the effect of the independent variables in relation to the outcome and p was considered significant when <0.05. Result: among the elderly interviewed, 45% presented multimorbidity, 51.1% reported a selfperception of poor/very poor health and 37.1% used polypharmacy. After the analysis was adjusted to the occurrence of multimorbidity, association with the following variables was found: health perception (regular/poor/very poor) PR=1.15 (CI95%; 1.09 -1.22) and use of polypharmacy PR=1.29 (CI95%; 1.22 -1.35). Conclusion: Multimorbidity may interfere negatively in the self-perception of health of the elderly contributing to increased medicine consumption.

Factors associated with multimorbidity in the elderly: an integrative literature review

“…The same occurred with the variables polypharmacy and negative self-perception of health in the study by Cavalcanti et al 41 The use of several drugs and the reporting of poor or very poor health seem to be a consequence of the accumulation of chronic diseases, rather than the other way around. The use of polypharmacy can be understood by elderly people's frequent need to take medications for the treatment of chronic diseases, while selfperception of health tends to be negative due to the greater number of hospitalizations of elderly people who suffer from multimorbidity.…”

“…In general, the results of the review point to an association between multimorbidity in the elderly and smoking, alcohol consumption, living in rural areas, low schooling, use of health services in the previous week, the female gender, older elderly persons, family structure (not living with children), polypharmacy and a negative self-perception of health. The studies diverged on the influence of economic status on the prevalence of multimorbidity [35][36][37][38][39][40][41] .…”

“…Finally, in 2017, Cavalcanti et al 41 sought an association between multimorbidity in the elderly and sociodemographic variables, self-perception of health and polypharmacy. The sample consisted of 676 individuals aged 60 years or older residing in small municipal regions in the north of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.…”

Prevalência e fatores associados à polifarmácia em idosos comunitários

“…Trata-se de um achado consistente e relevante, amplamente observado em robustos estudos epidemiológicos sobre uso de medicamentos e polifarmácia em idosos. 3,11,[19][20][21][22][23]25,29,30 Fase a esse resultado, esses trabalhos alertam para a atenção às condições crônicas de saúde e suas repercussões, tornando-se um problema de saúde pública também no cenário do atual inquérito.…”

Erros De Prescrição Em Uma Farmácia Básica Do Distrito Federal

“…O envelhecimento populacional que vem ocorrendo mundialmente nas últimas décadas ocasionado pela melhoria na qualidade e acesso a tecnologias da saúde tem acarretado em não somente mudança da pirâmide etária e no padrão de incidência e prevalência de doenças, mas também promove um aumento significativo no uso de medicamentos (8) , especialmente em pessoas idosas devido a taxa elevada de presença de multimorbidades que gira em torno de 50 a 98% e que requerem o uso de terapia medicamentosa (9) . O uso combinado de fármacos pode acarretar em diversos riscos em potencial, entre eles as interações medicamentosas, erros de administração e de prescrição inadequada, uso indevido de medicamentos, síndromes geriátricas e não adesão ao tratamento, além de poder resultar em diversos eventos adversos (5,10) .…”