Abstract
Abstract Objective: to evaluate the association between the number of medications taken and nutritional markers in Brazilian elderly persons diagnosed with chronic diseases. Method: study based on data from the National Health Survey (PNS) 2013, for the population aged 60 years or older who reported at least one chronic disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, depression, lung disease and chronic renal failure) (7,770 elderly persons). The outcome was the number of medications used for the selected diseases (0, 1 to 2 and 3 or more), and the exploratory variables were food consumption markers and anthropometric indicators (body mass index, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio). The associations were evaluated by multinomial logistic regression, estimating the odds ratio and confidence intervals (95%) and considering potential confounding factors. Results: the use of a greater number of medications was positively associated with the consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish and milk, and negatively associated with the consumption of sweet foods, soft drinks and meat with excess fat; a greater consumption of medications was also associated with higher anthropometric indicator values. Conclusion: although a greater consumption of medications was associated with better dietary indicators, these elderly persons also had higher anthropometric indicator values, including a higher concentration of central adiposity.
Highlights
Population aging has contributed to an increase in the prevalence of Chronic Non-communicable Diseases (CNCD) and, a growth in the concomitant use of various medications[1]
The mean BMI, CC and waist-to-height ratio (WHR) values were significantly higher in these groups, compared to elderly persons who did not report using medications for the selected chronic diseases
The results of the present study showed that 17.6% of elderly persons with CNCD did not take any medication for these diseases and 82.4% took medication for at least one of the diseases investigated
Summary
Population aging has contributed to an increase in the prevalence of Chronic Non-communicable Diseases (CNCD) and, a growth in the concomitant use of various medications[1]. Evidence shows that medication use is associated with changes in food intake[6] and various nutritional disorders, such as weight loss[7] and obesity[5]. These findings demonstrate that, even if the actual temporal relationship between these events is unknown, there exists a synergistic relationship between them, leading to the greater vulnerability of the elderly when using multiple medications and/or undergoing nutritional deficiencies, which should be addressed by health services . These findings demonstrate that, even if the actual temporal relationship between these events is unknown, there exists a synergistic relationship between them, leading to the greater vulnerability of the elderly when using multiple medications and/or undergoing nutritional deficiencies, which should be addressed by health services2 . ,3,8,9
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