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Assessment of drug interactions in elderly patients of a family health care unit in Aracaju (Brazil): A pilot study

2011; Academic Journals; Volume: 5; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

1996-0816

Raquel Simões Mendes-Netto, Claudia Q. V. Silva, Alfredo Dias de Oliveira‐Filho, Chiara Ermínia da Rocha, Divaldo Pereira de Lyra,

Pharmacology and Obesity Treatment

This pilot study aimed to assess drug-drug and drug-food interactions in elderly patients of a Family Health Care Unit in Aracaju, Brazil. A descriptive pilot study was performed through an interview questionnaire with 35 elderly patients (28 women) of the Family Health Care Unit. The range of consumed medications was 1 to 7, and the rate was 3.1 medications/person. This pilot study identified that 34 elderly used multiple medication and its related problems such as risk of polypharmacy (5) and drug interaction (34). The class of drugs most commonly used was related to cardiovascular system, and alimentary tract and metabolism. Prescriptions with 2 to 3, 4 to 5 and 6 to 7 medications showed potential drug-drug interaction (39, 88.8 and 100%, respectively). Some drugs could not be administrated at meal time. These findings highlight the need for additional studies to further evaluate clinical outcomes associated with polypharmacy and potential drug-drug and drug-food interactions.