Universidade Federal da Bahia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina e Saúde -Salvador (BA), Brazil.
Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Ciências Naturais - Vitória da Conquista (BA), Brazil.
Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2021 Nov;67(11):1586-1594. doi: 10.1590/1806-9282.20210646.
This study aimed to assess older people's knowledge of the purpose of drugs prescribed at medical appointments in primary care units and the possible factors related to their level of knowledge about their medications.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 22 basic health units in Brazil. Patients aged ≥60 years were included in this study (n=674). Knowledge of prescribed medications was assessed by comparing the responses to the questionnaire and the medication and prescription information. Multivariate analyses were conducted using the Poisson regression with robust variance.
The mean age of the sample was 70.1 (standard deviation: ±7.1) years. Among 674 patients, 272 (40.4%) did not know the indication of at least 1 of their prescribed drugs; among them, 78 (11.6%) did not know the indication of any of their prescribed drugs. In the final multivariate analysis, polypharmacy, illiteracy, and cognitive impairment were found to be associated with misunderstanding the purpose of at least one prescribed drug. Moreover, illiteracy and cognitive impairment were associated with a greater misunderstanding of the purpose of all prescribed drugs.
In the studied sample, patients demonstrated a high rate of misunderstanding of the purpose of prescribed drugs. Therefore, it is necessary for health services and professionals to implement strategies that increase the quality of the guidance and instructions given to older people in order to promote adherence to treatment.
本研究旨在评估老年人在初级保健单位的医疗预约中对所开药物的用途的了解程度，以及与他们对药物知识水平相关的可能因素。
这是在巴西 22 个基层卫生单位进行的横断面研究。本研究纳入了≥60 岁的患者（n=674）。通过比较问卷和药物及处方信息来评估对所开药物的了解程度。采用泊松回归带有稳健方差的多变量分析。
样本的平均年龄为 70.1（标准差：±7.1）岁。在 674 名患者中，有 272 名（40.4%）至少有 1 种所开药物的用药目的不清楚；其中，有 78 名（11.6%）不知道他们所开药物的任何一种药物的用药目的。在最终的多变量分析中，多药治疗、文盲和认知障碍与至少一种所开药物的用药目的理解有误相关。此外，文盲和认知障碍与对所有所开药物的用药目的理解有误相关。
在研究样本中，患者对所开药物的用途存在较高的误解率。因此，卫生服务和专业人员有必要实施策略，提高向老年人提供的指导和说明的质量，以促进治疗的依从性。
