Medicine use by the elderly in Goiania, Midwestern Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/rsp.v47i1.76586Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the pattern of use of medications use in aged people and associate it with socioeconomic aspects and with the self-rated health. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional design study with 934 elderly people from Goiania, Midwestern Brazil, between December 2009 and April 2010. Data were collected through a questionnaire. The dependent variable was the number of medications consumed and the independent variables were sex, marital status, education, type of residence, age, income, and self-rated health. Drugs were classified according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification. The inappropriate drugs for the elderly were identified according to the Beers-Fick criteria. The tests used were Chi-square and Fisher's exact test, p was considered significant when < 0.05. RESULTS: The elderly consumed 2,846 medicines (3.63 medications/person). The most commonly consumed were those which act in the cardiovascular system (38.6%). The prevalence of polypharmacy was 26.4% and self-medication was 35.7%. The most used drugs for self-medication were analgesics (30.8%), 24.6% of the elderly consumed drug considered inappropriate. Women, widows, those aged 80 or over and with worse self-rated health were more likely to practiced more polypharmacy. Most self-medication was associated with lower levels of education and worse self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of drug use by the elderly was similar to that found in the elderly in other regions of Brazil. The number of drugs used, the prevalence of self-medication and practice of polypharmacy and inappropriate drug use were within the national average.Downloads
Published
2013-02-01
Issue
Section
Original Articles
How to Cite
Santos, T. R. A., Lima, D. M., Nakatani, A. Y. K., Pereira, L. V., Leal, G. S., & Amaral, R. G. (2013). Medicine use by the elderly in Goiania, Midwestern Brazil. Revista De Saúde Pública, 47(1), 94-103. https://doi.org/10.1590/rsp.v47i1.76586