Analysis of the safety of medication and relevant influence factors among the elderly chronic diseases

Abstract

Objective To investigate the medication safety and relevant influence factors among the elderly with chronic diseases, to improve the safety of the elderly medication, and provide the theory basis for the rational use of drugs. Methods Questionnaire survey was conducted on 452 elderly outpatients with chronic diseases using self-designed questionnaire. Results 21.7% (98/452) of the elderly took seven or more drugs. The incidence of adverse drug reactions was 38.4% (174/452). The prevalence in the top three were cardiovascular disease [61.3% (277/452)], diabetes [53.5% (242/452)], and lung disease [42.0% (190/452)]. Old people had unsafe medication behaviors including missing medication, stopping medication on their own, increased or reduced dosages of medicine and taking overdue medication,and so on. Logistic regression analysis showed that the main influence factors of medication safety were age, previous occupation, educational level, monthly household income per capita, medication time, the source of drugs and whether received medication safety health education (P<0.05). Conclusions Relative lack of safety knowledge, wrong cognition and behaviors exist in the elderly. It is worthy of paying attention to adverse drug reactions and hidden dangers of the elderly. Key words: Aged; Chronic disease; Medication safety; Influencing factors