O circuito do medicamento nos lares de idosos - Ubi Thesis

Abstract
Population aging is a demographic reality that inevitably has an impact on society. There is no
doubt that the increase in the number of nursing home residents is an example of this fact.
The demographic and clinical characteristics differ among the institutionalized elderly people
and those who live in the community.
The presence of several diagnoses and the consumption of a high number of drugs are some of
the factors that often combine in institutionalized elderly people. Moreover, along with the
physiological changes of aging, it exposes them to a greater risk of problems related to
medication. However, it has been described that many of these problems can be prevented.
The problems associated with medication may occur at any time of the medication
management system, from its prescription to its administration, and also in monitoring the
results. In fact, they have been associated with a significant increase in morbidity and
mortality rates.
The aims of this study were to evaluate the drug consumption by nursing home residents, the
medications management system in residential nursing homes and also evaluate the quality of
one of the main critical points: the prescription.
The results of this study show that the average number of drugs prescribed per patient is 8.1.
Among the most commonly prescribed drugs, those acting on the nervous system (86.7%),
cardiovascular system (80.1%) and digestive tract and metabolism (75.8%) are the most
evident.
Among the drugs acting on the nervous system, the anxiolytics and antipsychotics are the
most prescribed. We also verified that in these two classes of drugs, a greater percentage of
patients take two drugs of the same group.
The prescription of drugs “as needed” is considerable. We verified that 55.9% of the patients
experience at least one potentially inappropriate prescription (PIP). Among the PIP, it is
noticeable the use of drugs with anticholinergic effects (25.8%) and the simultaneous use of
three or more psychotropic drugs (17.6%).
The results also confirm a proportional relationship between the number of drugs prescribed
and the prescription of potentially inappropriate drugs.
We detected a high number of inappropriate prescriptions when using the quality criteria.
This study allowed (i) the characterization of drug consumption by the institutionalized
elderly people, (ii) to describe the medication management system in residential nursing
homes, and (iii) assess the quality of drugs prescribed.
Keywords
Institutionalized elderly, nursing home, medication management system, prescribing quality.
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