Standard drug consumption: a study with elderly people in Primary Health Care.

Josefa Muriele Da Silva Marinho,Luciane Paula Batista Araújo De Oliveira,Thiego Santos De Araujo,Wanessa Cristina Tomaz Dos Santos Barros,Karyne Beatriz Almeida De Medeiros,Romário Nóbrega Santos Fonseca

doi:10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0729

Josefa Muriele Da Silva Marinho, Luciane Paula Batista Araújo De Oliveira + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0729

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Abstract

To identify the pattern of medication consumption among the elderly assisted in Primary Health Care. Descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study, with a sample of 315 elderly people, in a city in rural Rio Grande do Norte. The average age was 72.41 years, with an average consumption of 3.15 medications per day, ranging from 1 to 16 medications daily. There was a prevalence of antihypertensives, antidiabetics, hypolipidemic and psychotropic drugs. 238 different drugs were mentioned, 15 of which were "potentially inappropriate drugs" for the elderly. Most of these patients follow treatment according to medical prescription, with low self-medication. Most elderly people buy their drugs, although many are available for free. The most consumed drugs are consistent with the most reported diseases (hypertension and diabetes). The daily use of inappropriate medications for the elderly is worrying, especially psychotropics, given the risks of dependence or health complications of these users.

Highlights

Study design, period and locationThe indiscriminate use of medicines is a common practice among the population, which seems to be characteristic of contemporary life
potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) were used with the following daily frequency: 122 elderly people used one PIM per day, 32 elderly people used two per day, and 2 elderly people even used three PIM per day
The elderly living in the urban area of the city of Santa Cruz/RN have a high consumption of medicines, with a daily average of 3.15 medicines per person, with cases in which the elderly used to use 16 medicines per day, a practice considered as polypharmacy and that exposes that user to other health problems

Summary

Introduction

The indiscriminate use of medicines is a common practice among the population, which seems to be characteristic of contemporary life. In Brazil, the lack of clinical protocols and easy access to medicines can contribute to the practice of polypharmacy in the elderly population[1]. Polypharmacy consists, in general, in the concomitant use of multiple medications, a common practice in the elderly because they have multi-morbidities. It is associated with a higher occurrence of falls, drug interactions, increased length of hospital stay and readmission to the hospital soon after discharge[2]. The numerical criteria ranged from 2 or more to 11 or more drugs per day as a definition of polypharmacy, and the value most frequently mentioned in the literature was the use of 5 or more drugs per day to represent it[2]

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