Tôrres Faggiani Fabiana, Schroeter Guilherme, Luz Pacheco Sandro, Araújo De Souza Antônio Carlos, Werlang Maria Cristina, Attílio De Carli Geraldo, Bueno Morrone Fernanda
Faculty of Pharmacy, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul , Rio Grande do Sul ( Brazil ).
Geriatrics and Gerontologic Institute, Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul , Rio Grande do Sul ( Brazil ).
Pharm Pract (Granada). 2007 Oct;5(4):179-84. doi: 10.4321/s1886-36552007000400007.
The elderly population is one of the most rapidly increasing populations in the world. Physiological alterations induced by the aging process make these individuals more susceptible to chronic diseases and, consequently, to increased drug utilization.
To describe the profile of drug utilization in the elderly living in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
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.
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.
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.
老年人口是世界上增长最为迅速的人口群体之一。衰老过程引起的生理变化使这些人更容易患上慢性病，从而导致药物使用增加。
描述居住在巴西里约热内卢州阿雷格里港的老年人的药物使用情况。
开展了一项基于人群的观察性横断面研究，以调查老年人的人口特征、信息来源和使用的药物类型。从阿雷格里港市议会提供的数据中招募了480名患者。2006年1月至5月期间，由经过培训的访谈员对老年人进行个体访谈。使用经过验证的药物治疗问卷收集数据，并通过SPSS 11.5计算机程序对数据进行列表和分析。
在接受访谈的480名患者中，13.8%的人未使用任何药物。心血管系统药物是老年人最常使用的药物类别（64.0%）。生病时，这些人中71.9%会去看医生，而36.9%会自行用药。对于大多数人（50.2%）来说，药物是通过标签识别的。只有41.2%的老年人能理解医疗处方，68.3%的研究患者从医生那里获得了正确使用治疗药物的必要信息。
本研究表明，针对药物治疗、预防和使用的药学服务计划可能会提高老年药物治疗的效率。
