Abstract
To estimate the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases and their association with polypharmacy in elderly people at the University of the Third Age (Portuguese acronym: UnATI). A cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study with 121 elderly patients. The prevalence ratio, Pearson's Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used as measures of association. At the mean age of 68.3, most elderly had at least one cardiometabolic disease (82.6%), of which hypertension was the most prevalent (71.1%), and consumed prescription drugs of continuous use (92.6%). Almost half of the elderly (48.2%) used combinations of drugs, which suggests a high cardiovascular risk. Polypharmacy due to prescription was observed in almost one-third (28.6%) of the sample, associated with the use of antihypertensives (p=0.004), antidiabetics (p=0.000) or lipid-lowering agents (p<0.000). Clinical guidelines recommend changes in lifestyle, but increased pharmacotherapy prevails in practice, which increases the risk of adverse events, especially in old age.
Highlights
The active aging policy proposed by the World Health Organization[1] emphasizes that “aging well” is part of a collective construction that should be favored by public policies and opportunities of health access throughout the life course
In order to estimate the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), we considered the cases in which the elderly referred diagnoses and/or treatment of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia
Since most research on chronic diseases and polypharmacy in the elderly is conducted in health care units with users and patients, or are population-based studies, the present study sought to estimate the prevalence of CMD and its association with polypharmacy and therapeutic regimen in elderly participants of the UnATI with the perspective of guiding the planning of actions that aim to maintain functional capacity and active aging in this population
Summary
The active aging policy proposed by the World Health Organization[1] emphasizes that “aging well” is part of a collective construction that should be favored by public policies and opportunities of health access throughout the life course. Active aging is based on strengthening opportunities for participation and access to health and safety with a view to improving the quality of life as people get older. Actions aimed at the elderly must take into account functional capacity, the need for autonomy, participation, care and self-satisfaction. Such actions must open the way for the possibility of acting in various social contexts and assigning new meanings for life in advanced age fundamentally by encouraging prevention, care and integral health care[3]
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