Profile of drug utilization in the elderly living in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Pharmacy Practice

  • Fabiana TÔRRES FAGGIANI1Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Guilherme SCHROETER1Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Sandro LUZ PACHECO1Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Antônio Carlos ARAÚJO DE SOUZA2Geriatrics and Gerontologic Institute, Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Maria Cristina WERLANG1Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Geraldo ATTÍLIO DE CARLI3Faculty of Pharmacy and Geriatrics and Gerontologic Institute, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  • Fernanda BUENO MORRONE1Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 179-184

Abstract

Objective: To describe the profile of drug utilization in the elderly living in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Methods: An observational and cross-sectional population-based study to investigate the characteristics of the population, sources of information and types of drugs used by the elderly was performed. Four hundred and eighty patients were recruited from data supplied by the City Hall of Porto Alegre. The elderly were interviewed individually during the period from January to May 2006 by trained interviewers. A validated pharmacotherapy questionnaire was used for data collection and data were tabulated and analyzed by the SPSS 11.5 computer program. Results: Of the 480 patients interviewed, 13.8% did not use any medication. Cardiovascular system drugs represented the pharmacological class most used by the elderly (64.0%). When ill, 71.9% of these individuals visited the doctor, while 36.9% self-medicated. For the majority (50.2%), drugs were identified by their labels. Only 41.2% of the elderly understood medical prescriptions and 68.3% of the patients studied obtained the necessary information for the appropriate use of therapy from their doctors. Conclusions: The present study suggests that a pharmaceutical care program for the treatment, prevention, and use of medications may provide a higher efficiency to elderly drug therapy.

Keywords

  • Drug Utilization
  • Polypharmacy
  • Aged
  • Brazil
Pharmacy Practice

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