Drug utilization and polypharmacy among the elderly: a survey in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil Uso de medicamentos y polifarmacia en adultos mayores: encuesta en la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

• Main Authors: Suely Rozenfeld, Maria J. M. Fonseca, Francisco A. Acurcio
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2008
• Subjects: Salud del anciano; utilización de medicamentos; polifarmacia; estudios transversales; Brasil; Aging; health; drug utilization; polypharmacy; cross-sectional studies; Brazil; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/5a1dc09a76bd4e2bb566691540fa014b

OBJECTIVE: To describe drug utilization by Brazilian retirees with an emphasis on inappropriate use. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with a simple random sample of 800 retirees of the Brazilian Institute of Social Security, 60 years of age and older, residing in Rio de Janeiro City, through face-to-face interviews. RESULTS:Medication use in the 15 days before the study was reported by 85% of the sample, with a mean of 3.7 products per person (standard deviation = 2.9). About half the sample used one to four medications and a third used five or more. The highest number of drugs used per patient was 24. More women than men used multiple medications. There is a tendency toward positive association (P < 0.001) between drug use and variables relating to disease and health care. This trend continues in the analysis by gender. Men who reported five or more diseases were five times more likely to use multiple drugs than men with up to two (zero, one, or two) diseases (prevalence ratio 5.21, 95% confidence interval = 2.48-10.90). Women who reported five or more diseases were nearly four times more likely to use multiple drugs than women with up to two diseases (prevalence ratio 3.67, 95% confidence interval = 2.24-6.02). Of the active substances used by the sample, 10% were considered inappropriate. CONCLUSIONS:To improve drug therapy for the elderly, health practitioners can take measures to reduce unwarranted use of medication and to optimize the benefits from important drugs. Further studies should be conducted to adjust lists of medications inappropriate for the elderly to the situation in developing countries. OBJETIVOS:Describir el uso de medicamentos en los jubilados brasileños, con énfasis en su uso inapropiado. MÉTODOSEstudio transversal mediante entrevistas presenciales a una muestra simple aleatoria de 800 jubilados del Instituto Brasileño de Seguridad Social, de 60 años de edad o más, que residen en la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro. RESULTADOS:Del total de encuestados, 85% informó el uso de medicamentos en los ...