Suitability of medications used by the elderly participants of a social group, according to the Beers criteria

• Main Authors: Geysa Donária de Miranda Mascarenhas, Kelle Oliveira Silva, Patrícia Azevedo da Silva, Luciana Amaral de Faria, Luciana Araújo dos Reis, Maria Ivone Novaes
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia 2014-07-01
• Series: Revista Saúde.com
• Subjects: Elderly; Pharmacology; Pharmacotherapy; Medicines;
• Online Access: http://www.uesb.br/revista/rsc/v10/v10n3a06.pdf
• ISSN: 1809-0761; 1809-0761

The dynamic process defined as aging progressively reduces the functional capacity of the elderly and added to the lifestyle, they can to testify to the high number of pathologies. Thus, pharmacotherapy for this age group requires special care, keeping in view its peculiarities. Given this need, a group of researchers has developed criteria that allowed the identification of inappropriate medications. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the suitability of medications used by the elderly participants of a social group, in Vitória da Conquista, BA, according to the Beers criteria. This research was an exploratory descriptive study and data collection conducted through semi - structured interviews. It was asked to bring all the elderly who were using medications and / or prescriptions. It was found that 12.7% of the drugs used by the elderly appeared in the list of inappropriate medicines and 42% of respondents make use of polypharmacy. Among the most prescribed inappropriate medications, there is acetylsalicylic acid, diclofenac, diazepam, piroxicam, ibuprofen and amitriptyline. The class of inappropriate drugs most used by seniors was anti - inflammatory drugs. Given this, all health professionals need to put into practice the criteria for selecting medications this age group as the reality of existing drugs in Brazil.