Epidemiologia do uso de medicamentos entre idosos em area urbana do Nordeste do Brasil

Objective: to verify the prevalence of and factors associated with polypharmacy among elderly residents of the city of Cuiabá, in the state of Mato Grosso. Method: a cross-sectional study of 573 people aged 60 and over was performed. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more medications. To investigate the association between polypharmacy and sociodemographic variables, health and access to medication, the Mantel Haenszel chi square test was used in bivariate analysis and Poisson regression was used in multivariate analysis. The significance level adopted was 5%. Result: the prevalence of polypharmacy was 10.30%. Statistically significant associations were found between polypharmacy and living with others, describing suffering from circulatory, endocrine, nutritional and digestive tract diseases, and referring to financial difficulties for the purchase of medicines. Conclusion: some social and health condition factors play an important role in the use of multiple medications among the elderly.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Prevalence of and factors associated with polypharmacy among elderly persons resident in the community

Almeida¹,

Reiners

Azevedo

et al. 2017

“…The prevalence of drug use in the study population was 97.1%, surpassing the rates found in other regions of the country, such as 79.4% in the south 25 and 85.5% 26 in the northeast regions These data are in line with the study by Silva et al 10 , in which it was found that enrollment in a health plan was positively associated with the use of medication, due to the greater ease of access to doctors from different specialties, resulting in a greater number of prescriptions.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

Analysis of medication use by elderly persons with supplemental health insurance plans

Muniz

Goulart

Lazarini

et al. 2017

Objective: To analyze the socio-demographic and pharmacotherapeutic profiles of elderly users of a private health plan. Method: A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with 239 elderly users of a private health plan in a medium-size city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and absolute and relative frequencies were obtained. The pharmacotherapeutic survey estimated the prevalence and average number of medicines used in the 15 days prior to the interview, as well as adherence to treatment. Results: Of the respondents, 79% were female, with a mean age of 73 years. The main health problems reported were: arterial hypertension, rheumatism/ arthritis, dyslipidemia and diabetes. A total of 97.1% of the elderly persons used medicine, and the most frequently used classes were for the cardiovascular and digestive systems. An average of 5.9 drugs/elderly person were used and 62.8% of the sample were undergoing polymedication. A total of 11.7% of the sample used medications that were unsuitable for the elderly, 51% had average adherence to medication and 12.1% had poor adherence. Conclusions: The majority of elderly people in the sample were female, lived with relatives and had a higher-level education. Despite the use of polymedication and the presence of multiple comorbidities, the percentage of elderly persons with low adherence to treatment was lower than that found in other studies. A high level of education and purchasing power, which facilitated the access to medication of the elderly patients under study, may be important predictors of adherence to treatment. The results support maintaining a model of care for the elderly centered on the treatment of diseases and pharmacotherapy.

“…Lower values were identified in a study the among elderly from the community in Recife (Pernambuco) (6.7%) 28 and higher prevalances were found in a study with elderly in the community of Teresina (Piaui) (62.5%) 30 . The elderly population carries out self-medication to treat some symptoms such as headaches; and studies indicate that easy access to these drugs is a contributing factor to this practice 31 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Brazilian studies have identified a prevalence of polypharmacy of between 11.0% and 71.1%, with the highest frequency among elderly persons with MS [27][28][29][30] . The higher prevalence of chronic illnesses among elderly persons leads to an ongoing increase in the consumption of medications in this age range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profile of elderly persons with metabolic syndrome and factors associated with possible drug interactions

Tavares

Gomes

Rodriguês

et al. 2018

Objectives: To describe the sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacotherapy characteristics of elderly persons with metabolic syndrome and to identify factors associated with drug interactions among these individuals. Method: A quantitative, analytical and transversal study was carried out among 263 elderly people with metabolic syndrome in the urban area of Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Possible drug interactions were identified and classified according to the Micromedex® DrugReax System. The chi-squared test and the multiple logistic regression model were used for analysis ( p<0.05). Results: The majority of the individuals were female (70.7%); aged 60 to 74 years (72.3%); lived with a spouse/ partner (63.9%); had some schooling (74.1%); an individual monthly income of ≤ one minimum wage (77.1%); lived with others (88.2%); had five or more morbidities (89.7%) and exhibited polypharmacy (73.0%); used potentially inappropriate medications (54.4%) and had possible drug interactions (75.3%). Associated with the possible presence of drug interactions were: age range ( p=0.005), polypharmacy ( p<0.001) and use of potentially inappropriate medications ( p=0.006). Conclusion: Possible drug interactions were associated with increased age, polypharmacy and the use of potentially inappropriate medications. This study contributes to knowledge of these possible interactions among elderly people with metabolic syndrome, and as such can be considered an important tool for planning actions to ensure the safety of these individuals who, due to the complexity of their treatment, use multiple medications.