Consumo de medicamentos por idosos segundo prescrição médica em Jaú-SP

• Autor(a) principal: Simões, Maria Jacira Silva [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2005
• Outros Autores: Marques, A. C. [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://serv-bib.fcfar.unesp.br/seer/index.php/Cien_Farm/article/viewArticle/413; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/68642
• topic: Drug intake; Drug-drug interactions; Medical prescription; The elderly; antidiabetic agent; antihypertensive agent; diuretic agent; age distribution; aged; drug use; female; human; human experiment; information processing; major clinical study; male; prescription; sex difference

This study was carried out in order to identify the interactions that occur most often between prescribed drugs as they are taken by elderly patients attending municipal public health centers in the city of Jaú, São Paulo State, Brazil. It is known that older people frequently have to live with chronic health problems, which oblige them to use the health service a great deal and to consume large quantities of medicines. When concomitant diseases are present, and polytherapy is being applied, the likelihood of adverse reactions and interactions between drugs increases. The population under study consisted of 148 persons aged 65 or more who frequented the pharmacy at the Núcleo de Gestão Assistencial (Municipal Health Centre, NGA25) in Jaú, between August and December 2004. Data were collected from medical prescriptions, the independent variables being the age and sex of the patient. For each patient, the pharmacological classes of drugs taken and drug-drug interactions were recorded. It was found that the mean numbers of drugs consumed were 3.8 among women and 3.9 among men. In terms of age, the highest number of drugs (4.2) was used in the group aged 75 to 84 years. The most frequently prescribed classes, in decreasing order, were: antihypertensives, 25.0%, heart drugs, 15.5%, diuretics, and anti-diabetic drugs, 10.7%. It was concluded that the classes most involved in drug-drug interactions were heart drugs, diuretics and antihypertensives. The most problematic active constituents were digoxin, amiodarone, frusemide, captopril, propranolol and nifedipine.