Estudio epidemiológico sobre la enfermedad ácido-péptica en pacientes ancianos ambulatorios

Abstract

Background the main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of peptic acid disease (PAD) in elderly outpatients and to identify the profile and characteristics of these patients. We also assessed comorbidity and polypharmacy use (specifically, the use of drugs with potential pharmacological interactions), with special emphasis on nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and gastroprotective drugs. Material and methods we performed a cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study of elderly patients attending 15 geriatric outpatient clinics (80 consecutive patients aged more than 65 years old per center). Data on demographic factors, associated diseases, and drug consumption (NSAIDS and antisecretory therapy) were collected. Results a total of 1119 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 80 years old (SD 6.7) and 65% of the participants were women. The prevalence of PAD was 41%. The most common PAD was gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (23%), with a wide variety of symptoms. Comorbidity was high, with more than 90% of the patients suffering from two or more diseases. The mean number of concomitant drugs was 4, and 422 patients (37.8% of the sample) were taking antisecretory drugs. The use of NSAIDs was common (15%), and only one-third of these patients received gastroprotective therapy with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Conclusions PAD is highly prevalent in elderly outpatients. The most frequent diagnosis is GERD. In this population comorbidity and polypharmacy use were high, which could lead to a high percentage of pharmacological interactions. Effective gastroprotective therapy with a PPI in the subgroup of elderly outpatients taking NSAIDs was low.