Use of proton pump inhibitors – part I: Sociodemographic profiles of patients in an internal medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital, Bahia – Brazil

Abstract

The great effectiveness of proton pump inhibitors [PPIs] in reducing gastric acid secretion is crucial for their wide therapeutic use, overlapping with other antacids such as H2 receptor antagonists. The main situations in which the use of PPIs is a recommended therapeutic practice are: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, prevention and treatment of peptic ulcers associated or not with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or Helicobacter pylori infection. The present analytical-descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was carried out through the analysis of medical records of patients from the Ambulatory of Internal Medicine of the Ambulatório Professor Francisco Magalhães Neto- (Outpatient Clinic) - part of the Complexo Hospitalar Universitário Professor Edgar Santos, Federal University of Bahia, in the year 2016; its main objectives were to outline the clinical profiles of patients using PPIs or not, in addition to the characteristics of the prescriptions, seeking to understand the therapeutic use related to the main morbidities. Regarding the socio-epidemiological profile of the patients studied, it was concluded that the population was characteristically elderly and composed of women; the assessment of the level of formal education was hampered because in most cases there was no specific record; about religion, most of the cases studied had no record, and the most declared was the Catholic Christian; about the functional status most patients declared themselves retired. The clinical profile of the patients, characteristics of the prescriptions, and the general conclusions will be addressed in Part II of this study – in the following article.