Avaliação do perfil sociodemográfico, clínico e farmacoterapêutico dos idosos atendidos no ambulatório de cuidado farmacêutico da Universidade Federal da Paraíba

Abstract

The global demographic transition has resulted in the population aging process. This process brought with it a portion of the population, the elderly, who increasingly present a series of clinical health conditions and, as a result, also have a high prevalence of overuse of medications. In this scenario, it is possible to see a picture of multimorbidity, which is the presence of two or more chronic conditions at the same time, and a picture of polypharmacy, which is the simultaneous use of five or more medications. These conditions directly interfere in the life of elderly patients, as in addition to these conditions, they present age-related changes, which interfere in the drug mechanism, which hinders the effectiveness of drug treatments and complicate the management of these clinical conditions. Thus, it is necessary to carry out Pharmaceutical Care services, as these will have important impacts on clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes, especially in elderly patients. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacotherapeutic profile of the elderly attended at the Pharmaceutical Care Clinic at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). The study was carried out by completing an electronic form through teleinterviews with 70 elderly people registered at the Pharmaceutical Care Clinic, located at the School Pharmacy of the Federal University of Paraíba. The sociodemographic profile obtained revealed the prevalence of the age group between 60 and 64 years old (36%), female elderly (61.4%), 45.7% were married and lived only with their spouse (29%), 31 .4% had completed high school education, 51.4% were retired, 41.4% had income from 3 minimum wages, 82.9% of the elderly did not have a caregiver, 52.9% acquired their medication exclusively in the private pharmacy and 20% stored the medicines in the “medicine box” in the kitchen or bathroom. Regarding lifestyle, 72.7% did not drink alcoholic beverages; 65.7% did not smoke, 42.9% did not practice physical activities and 60% in a “balanced” way. The clinical and pharmacotherapeutic profile showed that 38% of the elderly were obese, 32.9% had allergies and 42.9% were using medicinal plants and/or herbal medicine. The prevalence of conditions was 4 health problems, the most prevalent being: pain (52.9%), hypertension (47.1%), anxiety and insomnia with 42.9% each, and forgetfulness (35.7%). The average number of drugs used was 4.0 ± 3.2, and the prevalence of polypharmacy was 27.1%, with the most used drugs being: losartan (27.1%), vitamin D (18.6%), omeprazole (14.3%), simvastatin and clonazepam (12.9% each). Through this study, it could be seen that the elderly presented multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Showing the need for the role of the clinical pharmacist in order to improve the health outcomes of elderly patients, directly impacting clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes