Characterization of polypharmacy in the elderly of the clinic 20. Municipality of Guane

Abstract

Introduction: polypharmacy in the elderly is considered one of the capital problems of geriatrics, the elderly frequently suffers from one or more non-communicable diseases, which predispose them to visit several doctors for their care and thus the frequent polypharmacy so aggressive for their health. Objective: to characterize polypharmacy in the elderly belonging to the medical office # 20 of the "Manuel Piti Fajardo" polyclinic health area of Guane Pinar del Río, in the period from October 2019 to April 2022. Method: descriptive cross-sectional study on polypharmacy, the universe was constituted by the totality of patients aged 60 years and over, the sample constituted by all the elderly aged 60 years and over who use polypharmacy. Theoretical and empirical methods were used, through patient surveys and review of medical records. Results: among the elderly with polypharmacy, there was a predominance of women over men and the predominant age range was 60 to 75 years old. The risk factors present were varied, including low educational level, the presence of two or more associated comorbidities, high socioeconomic level, easy availability of drugs and stress. Conclusions: the most used group were antihypertensive drugs due to arterial hypertension as the predominant disease, related to which the predominant adverse drug reaction was cough, a symptom frequently associated with antihypertensive drugs, and the behavior of self-medication was observed, which is increasing over the years.